The Unknown Future
by Fatemaker
Summary: John travels in to the future to save Cameron from the cluches of John Henry, and finds himself in a future which is far more dangeroes then anything John had ever imangined.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - A strange new future.

The basement of the Zeira Corporation was the last place John wanted or expected to be right now. The shock of almost being crushed by a machine drone was bad enough, but then finding Cameron's motionless body in the basement was enough to send him over the edge. With his mother and agent James Ellison in the room also, they watched as Catherine Weaver determined with a glace that Cameron had willingly given her chip to John Henry, the AI she was supposed to destroy. Sarah pointed out to John a message on a nearby computer, reciting the same three words over and over, 'I'm sorry John'. As John read the words, he felt like he'd lost something precious to him. His Cameron was gone, after everything that had happened she was gone and he wanted her back, he needed her back. Now, Catherine had started up a machine which began to emit bursts of electrical energy around the room. Catherine took her place behind Cameron's body, while John stood on her other side. John and Sarah turned to each other. "John, we can't". She was already backing away.

"He's got her chip!" John watched with a mixture of surprise and horror as his mother began to back out of the slowly forming sphere of electrical energy. Sarah didn't heed John's words and continued to back away. "He's got her!" His plea again didn't prompt Sarah to stop and she backed out of the sphere, which could clearly be seen by all. Sarah was now out of the sphere, not once taking her eyes from her son. John briefly shook his head, hurt and confused on why she was doing this, "Mom?" He hoped she would step forwards again, but she didn't. "I'll stop it!" At that moment, John knew he was now alone. He had already made his decision upon seeing Cameron's motionless body that he was going to rescue her. He just didn't expect his mother to not come with him. The time displacement sphere had now taken shape around John, Catherine and Cameron's body. John looked up at it and he remembered the first time he had jumped, how painful it back one last time at his mother, and in to her green eyes, the same eyes as his, John said goodbye without saying any words. To his left, Catherine knelt down and John did the same, just before the light become unbearable to look at and then they were gone.

John felt his feet leave the ground and then he landed again, his skin burning and his head felt like it was ready to explode. John opened his eyes, and slowly stood up, his now bare feet burning on the hot concrete he was now standing on. At first glance, it looked like nothing was different, except the darkness of the room. But as John looked up, the differences became obvious. There were large holes in the walls and thick layers of dust everywhere. He was now in the future, in the time he was supposed to be leading the war against Skynet and its machines, yet it seemed so quiet, a lot quieter then he thought it would have been. The concrete around him had buckled and shattered in to a perfect circle around him. Small fires were burning from the circle, fires caused from the time displacement field energy. John felt some movement and turned to see Catherine was with him. She was naked and John remembered that so was he.

Quickly moving his hands to cover himself he looked away and hoped a pile of warm and soft clothes would just appear before him. He looked back to Catherine and saw she was now fully clothed. Being a T one thousand, she could fashion any form of clothing for herself. John, now being the only one naked, felt cold and exposed. Trying to ignore it, he looked down and expecting to see Cameron, he saw nothing, she wasn't anywhere "Where's Cameron? Where's her body?" Catherine had taken the moment to look around the room herself and turned back and said, "It's doesn't go through". John was taken aback by the lack of answer and had to think. Cameron's face had been damaged and her metal endoskeleton exposed. She's couldn't travel under those circumstances and beside the condition of her body, Cameron wasn't really there. She was in her chip and that chip was here somewhere, she was already here. Upset by how bad the situation had become, John was startled by the sudden sound of dogs barking and voices. The sounds were getting closer. Looking for a place to hide, John spotted a coat, folded neatly on the ground next the Catherine.

Relived, John ran over and grabbed it. Pulling it on, John felt at last a little better. The coat was better then nothing and being a trench coat, his lower body and legs were mostly covered from sight. Crouching down, John looked through the large hole in the wall, and two men walked passed him. Both were armed and each of them held on to a dog's lead. The dogs were barking and pulling the men through the corridors and much to John's relief, they went right past him and Catherine, who had simply kept herself in the shadows and out of the way. Once the men had past them, John stood and made his way over to the gap in the wall, hurting his foot on the concrete as he did. He wished the coat had come with some boots. Glancing out to see that the men and the dogs had gone, John moved out and Catherin followed him. They both made their way down a corridor, which was mostly dark except for a few light bulbs which hung on wires above them. At the door ahead, a man stepped through; wearing what looked like a green military uniform. He spotted John and aimed his rifle. "Got one! GOT ONE!" The soldier advanced on John, holding his rifle steady and ready to fire.

John quickly raised his hands, "One what? What?" Looking for support, John turned to Catherine, only to find she had disappeared. John looked all down the corridor but couldn't see her. He didn't even hear her leave; he in fact, didn't hear anything. She just brought him to the future and now had just abandoned him to someone that looked ready to kill, "Please, I'm not metal". The soldier seemed reluctant to move any closer to him, "Don't move, DON'T MOVE!" John knew that the soldier thought he was a machine. "Please, I swear I haven't got anything, I'm, I'm I'm, I'm Human". John felt like an idiot for stuttering and could see someone moving behind the soldier in front of him, "I WILL BLAST YOU!"

"Stand down!" Derek Reese walked trough the door, followed by a second soldier and walked right up to John, who couldn't believe who he was seeing. He was only a few days ago he had seen his uncle killed by a machine and now, here he was, not a scratch on him. Derek looked down at the jacket John was wearing and looked confused by it before looking in to John's eyes and he looked for a long time. "Look in his eyes". Derek turned and looked at the soldier who threatened to kill him and by now, had lowered his weapon, "He's got about as much metal in him as you do". Derek turned back and John smiled and felt nothing but joy at seeing his uncle alive again, "Derek!" Derek looked at John with confusion, "Yeah?" John's smile vanished in an instant. "John, John Connor". Saying his name was the only thing he could think off. Derek must have known him. He was his nephew after all and John Connor is a well known name in the future. "I know a lot of people kid, I don't know you". John now didn't know what to think. If this was the future, how could Derek not have heard of him? Derek turned to the two men behind him, "Has anyone heard the name, John Connor?" They both shook their heads.

Derek again turned back to John, who couldn't make sense of what he was hearing and seeing. "Well … You know what? I think you're goanna be famous. My brother's back and you're wearing his coat". Derek nodded his head to behind John and John turned and he saw Kyle Reese, his father, walking towards him. He was followed by some others but John didn't pay any attention to them. Kyle was different from what John expected. He expected to see a man with many scars and burns and too be battle hardened in every way, but he was looking at just a man, someone that better suited his father then anything he dreamed up ever did. Kyle just stared at him and he looked annoyed that John was wearing his coat but he also looked at John as if he was seeing a familiar face. Suddenly, someone moved from behind Kyle and John recognised a familiar face.

Long brown hair and chocolate brown eyes, Cameron walked forwards and knelt down next to one of the dogs and began to stroke its head. She then looked up to John and they both stared at each other, both in relative fascination. John smiled at her but his smile faded when he realised what she was doing. She was gently petting a dog and the dog wasn't barking at her. Dogs were used in the future to sniff out machines and if this was Cameron, the dogs wouldn't let her near them. This wasn't Cameron, this was someone else. Kyle turned his head to see what John was looking at and turned back again quickly, prompting John to look at him. "Who are you?" John was a little taken aback at hearing his father speck, they sounded so alike, and "I'm John, John Connor". His father continued to stare at him and John couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by the fact everyone was staring at him. Kyle opened his mouth to speak again, but the dog behind him began to growl, quickly followed by the others and then they all began to bark.

Everyone suddenly looked worried. Kyle turned to the soldier behind him and took one of the two rifles she was holding and turned back to face Derek. "Derek, take care of it. Check all south exits and see if John got in that way. I'll check the north exits". Derek and the two soldiers turned and left through the door. The two men with the dogs who past earlier returned and followed Derek through the corridors. Kyle had already turned to walk in the opposite direction before he stopped and turned back to the women who John thought was Cameron. "Allison, take John inside until we get back. Don't leave him alone and keep him away from everyone else until we can figure out what to do with him". This was Allison, she was a real person. John had thought Cameron had made up the name Allison when a glitch in her chip surfaced. He never actually believed she had taken the appearance of someone else to get close to him. Allison looked exactly like Cameron, she long brown hair and the chocolate brown eyes that melted John's heart every time he saw them, and of course, was absolutely beautiful in every way. Kyle turned again to walk away but then he turned to John, "When this is finished, I want my coat back".

He then hurried off, taking two more soldiers with him. Allison stood up and beckoned John to follow her, "Come on, follow me". John hesitated to follow when hearing her speak, her voice was the same as Cameron's, but it was also different. Intrigued and not wanting to be left alone in the cold, John followed her. Three other soldiers came out of no where and surrounded John as he walked, obviously not wanting John to run off. He shook his head on how he was being treated, it wasn't like he had anywhere to go, and he didn't even know where he was. Allison led him through the room he and Catherine had arrived in and she and the soldiers looked confused by the sight of the circle and small burning fires. John heard one of the soldiers next to him mutter, "That wasn't there yesterday, where the hell did it come from?" Allison led them further one through the corridors until she came to what John thought was a plain steel wall. Allison raised her hand and knocked firmly three times. At first nothing happened and John thought she must have forgotten where she was going, then they all heard three knocks in reply. Allison knocked again, this time only twice and then the steel wall opened, leaving a small gap in the wall but it was large enough to get through. Allison looked back to John for a moment before stepping through the gap, quickly followed by the dog. John again hesitated, not knowing what he was going to see on the other side. He was suddenly pushed forwards by the soldier directly behind him, "Move it, I haven't got all day". John, now actually feeling scared, moved through the gap. He found himself in another corridor and confronted by three more soldiers, all watching him with suspicion.

The lead soldier, who looked like he was in charge, walked forwards and though John tried not to look nervous, he was making a poor go of it, he was shaking. He put most of his shaking to how cold it was. The man was a lot taller then John was, and more muscular. His face was dirty; it looked like he hadn't washed himself in years and he smelt like it to. "So this is the low life your friends found is it?" He was looking at Allison as he spoke, prompting Allison to give him a dark look, "Don't start. I was told to keep him away from everyone else, and that includes you!" She took John by the arm and tired to lead him away from the men, but the lead soldier cut his arm in front of John's path, stopping him in his tracks. "You listen to me; you won't be here for long. We don't need anybody else here, especially people like you. I'll be around to throw you out". Then without warning, the man raised his rifle so fast, john didn't have any time to react. The buck of the rifle hit John under the jaw, threw him off his feet and John tasted his own blood. He already had a strong headache after travelling through time and now John felt close to passing out with the pain. John fell to the floor amidst the laughing of the men around him. "What the hell's wrong with you, leave him alone!" Through the pain in his jaw, John could hear Allison's voice and when opening his eyes, could see her pushing the lead soldier away. "Come on girl, don't be like that.

We've known each other a long time, stop pretending to be friends with him and lets you and me have some fun". He moved his hips backwards and forwards, prompting more laughter from the soldiers. He reached out to Allison, trying to touch the side of her face. Her dog, jumped up and tried to bite the mans hand, him having retracted it just in time. The dog stood between the two of them, growling and showing its sharp teeth. The lead soldier looked furious but at the prompting of the other soldiers, he laughed it off. "I was only playing. Call your dog off, I've got better things to do with my time". Allison, looking disgusted, knelt down next to John and again took him by the arm and helped him to his feet. "Come on". She led him past the still laughing soldiers; the one who hit John was laughing the hardest. Still holding on to John's arm, she led him in to a large room. The room was filled with people, at least a hundred of them. Most were asleep on the floor, huddled up together for warmth. A few were still awake, including some children who instantly woke their parents at seeing John, who to them, was a compete stranger. The ones who woke stared at John and Allison quickly led him off to a side room, the dog following them all the way. Allison pushed the door open and stepped inside, pulling John in with her. There was only one other person in the room. It was an old woman who was asleep on t a mattress in the corner of the room.

Allison took John to a nearby table and turned on an old lamp that was in its centre. It didn't give off a lot of light but it was enough to light the table up. Allison then pulled out one of the two chairs, "Sit down". John stared at her for a moment before sitting down, mostly due to the dogs growls. Allison held her hand out to look at his bleeding chin. After a moment, she let go again, "You're lucky. If he had his way, he would have killed you". She moved to the other end of the room and knelt down next to the old women. Allison moved the women's white hair out of her face and the women awoke from her sleep, "Is it you? Is it you?" The women tried to sit up before Allison pushed her back down, "It's me Cecilia, it's Allison. Everything's alright, Go back to sleep". Cecilia lay back down again shaking her head from side to side, "You're a good girl Allison. Be careful, please be careful". Cecilia seemed to fall asleep again in an instant and Allison stood up again and walked back to the table, "Is she alright?" Allison was startled for a moment, not realising who had spoken at first and looked confused as she looked at John. "She's old, her minds not what it used to be". Allison knelt down next to her dog and petted its head again, "You stay here, and watch him for me okay". The dog wagged its tail wildly as Allison stood up again. "I'll see if I can find you some clothes. I doubt you want to stay wearing only a coat". She smirked before heading out of the room. John could hear that most of the people that were previously asleep were now awake. They were quietly muttering to each other but John couldn't make out anything they were saying. The only company he had a sleeping old women named Cecilia and a dog which looked ready to tear his throat out. The dog sat between John and the sleeping Cecilia, its eyes fixed on John, who couldn't do anything but stare back and hold the coat around him to stay warm and trying to ignore his headache.

After about ten minutes, Allison returned with some clothes for him. She dropped them down on the table in front of him quietly. "Kyle's just got back. Their going to decide what to do with you, so I'd be ready if I were you". John took the pair of boots Allison had brought him and checked the size. They were half a size to big for him but they would do. Looking to Allison, he wondered what she meant, "Decide what to do with me, what do you mean?" Allison looked concerned by John's lack of knowledge with what was going on but she replied never the less, "They'll decide whether to let you stay or to kick you out". John's froze in the middle of checking his new socks for holes. "What do you mean kick me out? Is this how the Resistance treats people they don't know?" Allison looked more confused then ever, tilting her head to the side. John now knew where Cameron had adopted her confused stance from. "What are you talking about? What Resistance?" John's mouth dropped to the floor. "You don't know the resistance?" He was hoping that she was joking, that there was a resistance, but the look on her face told him otherwise. Her head tilted to the side even more, her brown eyes fixed on his and John couldn't help but stare back in to them. "There hasn't been a Resistance in years. You should know what happened, everyone does. They fought back and they lost. The machines won, they always do".

Allison stood up again and walked to the door, opened it a peered out before turning to look at John, "You better get dressed, they'll all be back soon" .She glanced back to a sleeping Cecelia and then opened the door again, "Wait, what happened?", Allison stopped dead before looking at John as if he was mad, "Where have you been for all these years?, how can't you know all this?". John didn't dare tell her about travelling through time, he didn't want to sound even more crazy then he already did so he stayed silent. Allison seemed annoyed by the lack of an answer but still gave him an answer in return, "The same thing happened every time people without guns attacked machines with guns". Allison looked disappointed by her own words before moving to open the door again, "Wait, what's your name?", Allison stopped again and seemed reluctant to give John any more information, but she turned to face him again, "Allison, Allison Young". She didn't smile or even look at him in the eye before she stepped out of the room. John took the chance to get dressed as quickly as he could; now shivering more then he had ever done as far as he could remember. Finally dressed in some clothes which were strangely warmer then they looked, John felt a little better but Allison's revelation about the state of the Resistance was hard to take in. How could there be no Resistance against Skynet? How could they have failed? John tired to silently answer those questions while also trying to understand his feelings at meeting his father and Cameron's template. He could understand why Cameron never told him about Allison, but it didn't stop him being disappointed by her deception, considering he had come to the future to rescue her.

Allison didn't return for a long time and John was becoming increasingly reckless. His headache had begun to subside but it still caused him pain when he turned his head. Allison's dog had stayed in the same spot ever since John was in the room and the entire time, it stared at him and growled at every indication that John was about to stand up. John held his head in his hands, trying to ignore the headache but also trying to make sense by what Allison had told him. If there was no Resistance, then what was this group that his father and uncle were a part of and more importantly, was there anybody else? Were their other groups of people still alive in the world? John's instincts told him that there were other still alive. Before John could think anymore on it, Cecelia stirred in the corner of the room, moaning as she dreamt. Her body began to shake violently and she began to say things that John couldn't understand. John, despite the chance that Allison's dog would attack him, stood up and walked over to the women, who was now shaking her head from side to side and was saying, "No, No, No", repeatedly. John knelt down next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Wake up!" John gave the women a soft but firm push but she didn't wake up and continued to shake and talk in her sleep. John turned to see where the dog was and saw it was just sitting and watching him, now no longer showing its teeth or growling at him. A little relived, he turned his attention back to Cecilia.

"Cecelia, wake up!" John gave another firm push and this time, she awoke and sat right up, her eyes staying firmly closed. "Water, I need water". John looked around and spotted a small plastic cup next to the mattress. Picking it up, he looked inside and saw there was only enough water for one gulp. "Here!" Cecilia opened her mouth and John, slightly taken aback, held the cup to her lips and poured the water in to her mouth. She gulped it down and moaned as if she was in pain, "More, I need more".

John put the cup down and looked around the area he found the cup, hoping to see some plastic bottles full of water but nothing came in to view. Allison's dog suddenly walked past John and pressed its nose in to a small black box against the wall. It looked at John and then to the box and John knew what it meant. John made his way over and opened the box. Inside were two bottles of water, one which was half full. Taking that bottle, John poured it in to the cup and moved back to Cecilia and held the cup to her lips again. Cecilia drank the whole thing and sighed when she was finished. Suddenly and again with out warning, Cecilia wrapped her arms around him, forcing the now empty cup out of John's hand. John was surprised by the woman's strength and was nearly pulled down on top of her, but managed to gain his footing just in time to stay upright. "I know who you are; you're not supposed to be here!" John genteelly lowered Cecelia back down on to the mattress. Once she was back down, she removed her arms from around him and took hold of the front of Kyle's coat that John was still wearing. "You shouldn't have come, you shouldn't have come, and you shouldn't have come!"

John tried to pull himself up but Cecilia's grip was stronger then he anticipated, keeping him pinned in place. "I was dreaming, I saw things, terrible things. I saw why you came here, you came for her. You shouldn't have come; you should have let her go". Cecilia finally let go of John and she lay back down, "You shouldn't have come, you should have stayed away. The one you have come for, she can not give you what you seek. Go back to where you've come from, and let her go". John knew she was talking about Cameron and was more confused on how she knew about her and on why he had come to the future in the first place. Never the less, he needed to ask something, "What if I can't let her go?" Cecelia gasped at the thought of it and shook her head in disbelief. "If you don't let her go, then you will loose and you will die". John stood up and Cecilia fell asleep again with out another thought. John, his head pounding with the headache and with what Cecilia had just said, walked back to the table and sat down again. Allison's dog followed him and lay down at his feet and thankfully, not growling at him anymore. John didn't know how Cecilia knew why he had come to the future or why she said what she did.

The door suddenly opened and Allison walked back in to the room, closely followed by two men. Allison walked over to Cecilia to make sure she was alright; she spotted the cup and turned to John, a surprised look on her face. "I only gave her some water". Allison smiled and placed the cup back down next to the mattress, "Thank you, but you need to go with them; they'll take you to Alistair". She pointed at the two men, who were both armed but looked friendly enough. "Who's Alistair?" The two men glanced at each other, before looking back at John, "He's in charge, and it's up to him if you can stay or if you have to go". John nodded and stood up, his head hurting more then ever; he needed to get some sleep. John glanced back to Allison, who said, "Good luck" before following the two men out of the room. Almost everyone was awake now, and they all stared at him as he walked. The older residents remained quiet while the children muttered excitedly together. Some teenage girls giggled under their breaths and whispered to each other before giggling even louder. John just ignored them and followed the two men. They led him through the back door and in to another corridor, which was dimly lit and reminded John of a horror film he once saw. The men led him along it and they came to another steel door and the taller of the two men knocked three times.

The door opened at once and a tall man appeared in the open doorway. He was an old man, he couldn't be much older then Cecilia was. His hair was deathly white and he wore small round glasses, which hung on just by the end of his nose. "We've brought him sir". The two men both stepped back and Alistair stared at John, who couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by him. "Alright then, you better come in here son, we need to talk". He stepped aside and beckoned John inside the room. John did so and found himself in what looked like an interrogation room. There was a large black table and one chair on either side. There was an old broken bed in the corner of the room and John guessed it was where Alistair slept; the mattress on top looked comfortable. "Take a seat son". He pointed to the nearest chair and John sat down, feeling a little nervous.

Alistair sat down opposite him and held his hands together. "If you don't already know my names Alistair". He held out his hand to John, who after a moment's hesitation, held out his own and shook back, "I'm John, John Connor". Alistair smiled as they let go of each other hands. "It's nice to see some people have the decency to use their manners every once and a while. Well then son, we're here to talk, just talk. I want to ask you some questions and I would like you to answer truthfully. If you do lie however, I will understand". John was completely taken aback by this. Why would anyone not care if he lied or not? Not knowing what to expect, he decided to play along. "Okay, ask your questions". Alistair smiled again. "First things first, I was told that you were found just outside our hideout here and you apparently stole a coat, which I presume you were still wearing and you had no other clothes, can you explain that for me?". John froze and thought on what to say. He couldn't exactly say he jumped through time and explain that whole time travel process, so he decided to make something up. "I was attacked, I dunno. Someone hit me from behind and I woke up with nothing on me. Who ever they were, they took everything I had, clothes, food, water, everything!" He waited for Alistair to see through the lie, but to his surprise, he nodded his head. "It's not the first time that's happened. We've found people who have been in the same situation. Even I was attacked and robbed, me, an old man, six years ago, can you believe that? Thieving gangs prey on people who wonder alone. They take everything you have but they don't kill you, that's their code. They leave the killing to the elements or to the machines".

John took this information in easier then expected and nodded his head, "Thanks for the clothes by the way". Alistair looked down at what John was wearing and nodded his head. "Not a problem son, but you might want to give Kyle his coat back when you next see him. He's protective of what is his". John nodded again and an image of Kyle's face popped in to his head again. He wanted to take the coat back to him then and there, anything to see his father again, but Alistair spoke again. "What were you doing wandering alone like that in any case? You were lucky only thieves got to you before the machines or anyone else did". John wasn't surprised to hear that other people were alive and was both pleased and relived by it, but again, he couldn't tell the truth. He came to find a machine which had stolen Cameron from him and he couldn't exactly mention her either so he decided to lie again. "I lost my family lately, my mom, my uncle, everyone. I'm on my own and something was stolen from me, something important. I was looking for the guy who stole it". John didn't think that that lie would get through but somehow it did as Alistair nodded his head. "Well son, I'm sorry about your family, we've all lost people we care about. You're lucky to be young enough to have never had grandkids. Their all gone now though and I've got others to look after now. I'm curious, what did this person steal from you?" John didn't dare tell him anything that would give him away, "That's private, I'm sorry".

Alistair raised his hands and shook his head, "No matter, everyone has their secrets. Now, I must ask you one final question, what are your plans? Are you planning to leave and continue your search or do you want to stay with us"? John didn't know how to reply to this, he hadn't thought far ahead. He wanted nothing more then to find John Henry and get Cameron back from him. "I don't know. I was kept underground most of my life. I didn't know how dangerous it was until today". John tried to sound like he was scared though he doubted Alistair was convinced by it. Alistair just stared at him, this time with a serious face, "Allison told me that you didn't know about the Resistance, about how the world is now. I was unconvinced by that until now, you really don't know?" John shook his head, both eager and scared to hear more. Alistair sighed, took off his glasses and leant back in his chair. "Well son, I think you must know how it all started. Skynet, Judgement day, the rise of the machines, you know about that, correct?"

John nodded his head and Alistair continued, "The machines rounded those who they could find and imprisoned them in work camps. All over the world, Here, Europe, China, Russia, everywhere. More people died in those camps then in every other war of the twentieth century. After a while, a small group in Century work camp, here in LA, or should I say, what's left of LA, began to plan their escape, to fight back. The Resistance started then and it grew. I was a part of it. I may have been old, but I was just as eager to smash some machines with my bare hands. But something went wrong". Alistair stopped and reached in to his pocket, pulled out a small bottle of whiskey and took a large gulp. He put it back in his pocket and continued. "I don't know what happened, no one does. We began the break out, we had the machines beaten but then, people started running for it. It became every man for himself. They all ran off and left thousands behind, women and children. The machines came back and killed them all, every single one. I was one of those to stay behind and try to save them. I lost my wife, two sons, three daughters and all of my grand children in century work camp. Very few of us made it out". John couldn't believe what he was hearing. The break out of Century work camp was supposed to be the turning point, where the Human race fought back against the machines, but he was now being told that they had all been massacred.

"Any thought of a Resistance ended that day. The one hundred people you saw in the main room earlier, most of them were never in the camp; never saw its horrors but they've all suffered. Me and only six others in our group were in century, including the owner of that coat your wearing, Kyle Reese". Alistair put his glasses back on and looked again at John, and John couldn't help but shed a tear. "We formed this group not long after, just trying to survive. We hide from the machines; we hide from the other gangs. Most of them are just as bad as the machines. They fight the machines and they kill each other. Kill each other over food, water, women, anything and everything. I don't know why Skynet bothers trying to flush us out. Fighting each other is killing us off; we're doing the machine's job for them". Alistair smiled again and sat forwards and John was now feeling upset. He couldn't help but blame himself for everything that had happened, even though he wasn't sure he was the reason for it. "Why do you do it? You lost your family, yet you lead this group, how can you go on?" Alistair's smile faded a little, "Yes, I lost my family, but I just have to look at the faces of those in the next room and that's what keeps me going. I'll see my family again when I die, but for now, those people need me". John nodded and felt a growing respect for Alistair for his actions. "I still don't know what to do. I need to find what was stolen from me, but…" John couldn't finish his sentence.

The revelation was what he had just heard, leaving his mother behind in the past and losing Cameron, who he cared about far more then he should was catching up to him, he was emotionally and physically exhausted. "I understand son, but please listen to me. I've spend the last ten minutes of my time talking with you and I already find myself trusting you. That is a rare thing and I would like it if you joined us. We move around a lot, we never stay in the same place for more then a few weeks. On our travels, we might run in to the person your looking for. You are free of course to decline my offer and you are also free to leave us at any time if you accept, as long as you do not reveal our location to anyone else, including the machines, especially the machines". John was taken aback and surprised by his offer, and couldn't stop himself from staring at him, "Well, will you join us?" Trying to ignore the ironical question, John nodded his head in agreement and Alistair smiled once again. "Excellent, I'm glad to hear it. I must warn you that though I have accepted you in to our group, the others will not be so trusting. We've been betrayed before and we've lost a lot of people because of it, but I'm sure you'll make some friends soon enough". John by this point was close to passing out; his headache now had his entire head aching with pain. Alistair stood up and walked to a black large cabinet in the corner of the room, which John hadn't noticed until now.

As Alastair opened it, John could see some rifles, pistols, boxes of ammo, some canned food and a pile of sleeping bags. Alistair took the sleeping bag from the top of the pile and closed it again. "Here, take this son. It's late and I think we could all use some sleep. We'll talk again tomorrow. I'll ask the boys outside to find you somewhere to sleep". John nodded and followed Alistair to the door. He opened it and John stepped in to the corridor, the two men looked at him curiously. Alistair waved at them to get their attention, "Find John somewhere to sleep for me and head to bed yourselves, I believe the Reese boys are on guard duty tonight". They nodded and Alistair, after giving John a firm pat on the back, went back in to his room and closed the door behind him. "Follow us then, John". They both seemed tired themselves and John followed them back to the main room. Nearly everyone was once again asleep. Parents lay with their arms wrapped around their children in an effort to keep them warm while some simply slept alone, using only their sleeping bags for warmth. The two men led John to an empty spot at the back of the room before departing to where they slept, each of them going through different doors which led off the main room. John removed Kyle's coat, folded it and placed neatly on the floor beside him before wrapping himself in the sleeping bag. Despite his headache, John had a hard time trying to sleep. He had a feeling he was watched and he didn't exactly blame who ever was watching him. He was after all, a stranger and after all that had happened to these people, he didn't blame them for not trusting him straight away. His mind was racing with what he had learnt in such a short space of time.

There was no Resistance, no organised army against the machines. John didn't know if he could believe such a thing could have happened and needed to see it for himself. He'd met his uncle, which he'd seen killed only a few days ago, to him at least. Then, he'd met his father, the one person who he'd always wanted to meet. Kyle was different from what John expected. He expected to see a man with many scars and burns, a description he made up of his father as a child but Kyle didn't look anything like that, and he was more or less, exactly the opposite. He'd also met Allison Young, the person Cameron had killed in order to get close to him in the future. All of these things ran through John's mind as he lay there, surrounded by people he didn't know and he was more scared now then he had ever been in his life, more scared then when he was being hunted by the machines. This was, with out a doubt, a strange new future, a strange new world.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Exodus

When John next awoke, the first thing he wanted to do was to turn over and go straight back to sleep. He was comfortable, more comfortable then he though he would have been, having fallen asleep on a cold concrete floor the previous night. The sleeping bag was doing a good job in keeping him warm. The only noise that came to his ears was the crackling of a small fire. Opening his eyes, he groaned in pain as he moved his body up, his muscles and joints aching with the slightest bit of movement. His eyes were groggy and no matter how long he had them opened, he couldn't gain any focus. Sitting up, John felt two hands push on too his shoulders, pushing him back down, "Stay down, don't get up!" John thought it was Cameron speaking, but quickly remembered that it wasn't Cameron at all, it was Allison. John tried to stay up but didn't have the strength to resist and was forced back down again. "What's going on?" There was no reply as John felt her hands leave his shoulders. He heard water being poured in to a cup and then felt a hand on the back of his head, pulling his head up. "Drink this, you'll feel better!" John felt the edge of a plastic cup push up against his lips and being thirsty, he obliged and opened his mouth. John choked on the water, but Allison continued to force the water in to his mouth. When there was no more water left to drink, Allison withdrew the cup. "Don't get up! I'll be back in a minute!" John heard Allison's hurried footsteps and then a door opening and closing and then there was silence. John, despite Allison's warning, moved himself to sit up and again opened his eyes.

At first, John again couldn't gain any focus, but gradually dark shapes began to show themselves that he could recognize, quickly followed by a yellow glow which John knew was the small fire that was burning. Once he was able to see clearly again, John looked around and found he was in Allison's room again. Cecelia was sitting at the small table, slowly eating food from her plate. Allison's dog sat beside her, its eyes once again on John, but thankfully, it didn't seem as hostile to his presence as it was the night before. John ignored the dog's watchful eyes as he shifted himself so he could lean against the wall. Before he could so anything else, the door flung open and three people came in, Allison was first, Alistair was second and the third was a women John didn't recognise. Allison moved across the room to sit with Cecilia at the table and began to eat from her own plate and Alistair stood with his arms folded by the door, looking both tired and worried. Allison's dog didn't seem to pleased that the room was suddenly full of people and backed away from the group, growling softly. The woman, who was tall and had pure black hair, was carrying a large green bag over her shoulder and she threw the bag down on the floor in front of him. "Right, you're awake, about bloody time. I've got better things to do with my time so let's get this over and done as quickly as possible, so, how are you feeling?" John blinked, completely taken aback with her bluntness. She just stared at him, her face getting redder by the second, "Well, have you forgotten how to talk now? Answer the question!" John shook his head quickly, "I'm fine, I guess". The woman looked frustrated by his answer and turned away, opened her green bag and began to sort through it. John looked up to Allison, who briefly glanced at him before looking away again. When he turned to look at Alistair, his face remained unchanged, though he did give a small smile. The women found what she was looking for and pulled out a small flashlight.

She flicked it on and shined it in to John's eyes, causing him to wince in pain, "Hold still, I can't do this if you don't hold still". John turned his head back to face her and she shined it in to his eyes again, causing him more pain as she held the light closer to his eyes. He tried to turn his head away, but she took hold of his hair, forcing him to face her. Once she finished, she threw the flashlight back in to the bag and began to look for something else, "Has this happened to you before? Has something happened to you that could have caused something like this to happen?" John looked to Alistair, to Allison and back to the women, not having the faintest idea what she was talking about, "Has what happened to me before?" The woman stopped what she was doing and looked at him as if he was drooling all over himself. The women shook her head and turned to face Allison, "You didn't tell him?" Allison herself looked nervous as she put down her plastic fork, "You told me to get you the moment he woke up". The woman shook her head, looking even more frustrated, "You stupid girl, can't you do anything right?" Allison's dog, not liking the tone of the woman's voice, instantly turned and growled ferociously at her. Allison reached out and grabbed to dogs collar to stop it attacking her. Alistair quickly stepped forwards and moved in between the two of them. "Allison, please keep your dog under control. Maggie, I know you're still mourning the loss of your brother, but that's no excuse to take your frustration out on Allison. Now, apologise and get back to work". Maggie still looked furious and lowered her head, "Sorry". John couldn't have giving a less convincing apology if he tried, but Alistair seemed satisfied. He moved back towards the door, folded his arms again and looked to John, "You've been slipping in and out of conscious for nearly three days now. Maggie here found that your body has been under some sort of great physical stress but found no significant marks on you, can you explain this?"

John's mouth dropped to the floor, three days, how could he have been unconscious for three days? He thought he'd only had a bad headache. "I don't know, I had a headache when I went asleep, are you sure it's been three days?" Alistair nodded his head. John couldn't believe three days had passed, and he'd spent the entire time in a coma. It wasn't the fact that he'd been bedridden for three days that bothered him. What bothered him was that he didn't know what caused him to fall unconscious. He'd jumped through time once before and was alright afterwards, so it couldn't be travelling through time. All he could think of was that he'd hit his head hard at some point. "I don't know, it's never happened before". Maggie shook her head again, just enough for John to notice but not enough for Alistair to. She then began to check John's eyes again, his temperature, blood pressure and his heart rate. John remained still while she did her checks and Alistair just watched with concern. Eventually, Maggie reached in to her bag and took out a small pack and threw it on to John's lap. Looking down, he saw it was a pack of aspirin. "Take them if you get another headache, make sure you drink lots of water and stay in bed for a few days". She then closed her bag, stood up and turned to Alistair, "Can I go now?" She and Alistair stared at each other and John got the idea that she wanted nothing more then to leave. He nodded her head and she without another word, she pushed past Alistair and out of the room. Allison let go of the dog who turned and sat down next to her, resting its head on her lap. Alistair closed the door behind Maggie as she left and turned to John again, "I'm sorry if she offended you in any way.

She's not been herself since her brother died". John shook his head, accepting the apology. "What happened to me?" Alistair didn't say anything for a moment and just stared, looking like he was thinking if John really was telling the truth, but he merely shrugged his shoulders as if he had no care in the world, "Maggie is the closest thing we've got to a doctor and she doesn't have the faintest idea. Kyle came to collect his coat and bring you some food, but he couldn't wake you. After it became apparent that you would not wake, I had you moved in here, so Allison could watch over you". John turned to Allison, who had been watching him the entire time. She quickly looked away, going slightly red in the face. John tried not to smirk, "Thank you". Allison nodded her head and turned her head slightly back to face him, "Your welcome", before looking away again and concentrating on her food. John reminded himself to think of her as Allison and not as Cameron. Despite the fact they looked identical; they were two completely different people. John turned again to Alistair, who was looking pleased again, "Well, As much as I respect Maggie's medical skills, we will have to ignore her order for you to stay in bed. Since you've been unconscious, our situation had changed and we must leave this place. The machines have been drawn to the area for some reason and we must be long gone when they get here, I don't think I need to explain what will happen to us all if they find us". John nodded his head and began to drag himself out of the sleeping bag. Alistair turned to Allison, who had just finished her food, "You better get Cecelia ready for the trip, we're leaving as soon as our scout teams get back".

She just gaped at him, looking both disappointed and annoyed, "But we've only been here a week, where are we goanna go next?" Alistair shook his shoulders again, "That's for John here to find. I'm sending him to find us a safe route out of here". Alistair turned to John whose stomach did a summersault, and Alistair seemed amused by the look on John's face, "Don't worry, you won't be alone. You be going with Derek and his team. I'll ask Derek to take you along as it's the perfect chance to show you how we do things, as every member of our group must contribute something to help us survive". John nodded his head again, despite the huge surge of nerves in him. Though he didn't exactly want to leave the room, mainly due to how tired and exhausted he was feeling, he didn't want to make a bad impression by refusing. Besides, the way on how this group did things with everyone contributing, seemed to be fair. Alistair opened the door to leave but stopped himself and turned back to John, "I'll send Derek over with some food for you. Once you've eaten, I require you both the head out at once. Don't worry, this isn't the first Exodus we've been forced to make". Alistair nodded his head to Allison and she nodded back as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

It didn't take long for Derek to arrive. He knocked three times on the door, causing Allison's dog to growl again. Allison opened the door to let Derek in, before heading back to help Cecilia. Derek looked surprised that John was awake and couldn't say anything at first, but he regained his composure and turned to leave again, "Good to see your finally awake, come on, we haven't got a lot of time. I'm sure Allison will be glad to get you out of her hair". Derek smirked and looked to Allison, who didn't respond to his comment. She was helping Cecilia out of her chair and began to guide her across the room to her bed. Cecelia looked in John's direction for a second and John didn't see any colour in her eyes. It was only then that John realised that Cecilia was blind. Derek beckoned John to follow and John got to his feet for the first time in three days, holding on to a nearby chair for support until he regained his balance. John followed Derek out of the room and in to the main room, which like before, was full of people. Most were busy packing what little possessions they had and didn't pay John or Derek much attention. The ones that did look up seemed disappointed that John had woken up. Derek noticed them staring and turned to John, "Just ignore them. A lot of us don't trust newcomers, and usually for good reason". John followed Derek across the room to a single table, which had a large sports bag on it. Derek reached in to the bag and pulled out two cans and passed one to John, "Here, I hope you're not fussy with your food". John held up the tin can and saw he'd been given peaches. His enthusiasm for food dropped instantly. He actually hoped for a large warm meal, maybe even a steak, but at least grateful he wasn't given pickles.

Derek didn't seem happy about his food either, "You better eat; I know it's not much but its better then nothing, and you could really use some food in you". John couldn't deny what Derek had said, he was starving. Derek offered John a plastic fork, which looked like it had already been used by someone, but John didn't care less as he began to eat. Much to his surprise, the small peaches didn't taste too bad. It didn't take long for both him and Derek to finish, though John could have easily eaten another ten cans. Despite this, he was grateful for the food and followed Derek out of the main room and along the corridor towards the entrance John came in through with Allison three days earlier. Half way down the corridor, were four men, all wearing the same green coats that everyone wore. They were armed and John recognised one of them as the one who threatened to shoot him when he first found them. They all looked up as Derek and John approached them and the one who nearly shot John stood up and marched forwards, holding out his hand to John, "Hey, I'm sorry about the way I acted". John was slightly taken aback but held out his own hand and shook it, "Forget about it". The man smiled gratefully and looked like a huge amount of weight had been lifted from his shoulders and sat back down with the other three. Derek seemed amused by the apology and tried not to laugh as he stood before all four of them, "Alright, you all know the drill. My brother and his team have already set out to the south tunnels. We're splitting in to three teams. Adrian and Dave, take the right tunnels to the north, Gareth and Tom, the same in the centre. Me and John here will take the left. Move quick and quiet. Meet any resistance, metal or not, fall back to a safe distance and report in. Other then that, maintain radio silence. We're looking for a route out; we're not looking for a fight. Any questions?"

Three of them didn't say anything, merely nodded their heads. One of the men however stood up, "Yeah I do, why's he tagging along with us? We don't even know who he really is. He could just be another mole". He pointed his finger at John, looking concerned. Derek's smile faded and it didn't take long for the man to sit down again, looking intimidated. "He's tagging along because Alistair said so". The man nodded his head and backed down in an instant. "Alright, move out; report back to Alistair once the tunnels have been searched". They instantly got up and moved down the corridor. John took a step forward to follow, but Derek cut his arm across him. "Where do you think your going?" John took a step back, feeling confused, "With you to the tunnels, like you said". Derek smirked, and knelt down next to a large but old sports bag which John had just noticed was there, "Yeah, we're going in to the tunnels, but you're not going when you look like that!" John looked down in surprise to what he was wearing. He was wearing the same clothes Allison gave him and they were a lot more comfortable and warmer then they looked. Derek smirked as he opened the sports bag and took out a green trench coat; almost identical to the one John borrowed from his father. Derek stood up and handed it out to John, "Here, everyone here has one; you could say it's our symbol". John took the coat and with out hesitation, pulled it on. It was heavier then he thought, but John quickly got used to it.

Derek next pulled out a rifle from the bag and a pistol and held out the pistol to John, "Hopefully, you won't need to use this. But with the luck we've had this past month, I wouldn't be surprised it you had to". John took the pistol and held it up to examine it. It was only a simple Glock 17 pistol and was a reliable weapon, but as John looked at it, an image of Cameron holding the pistol flashed before his eyes. This pistol was one that Cameron favoured more then any other weapon, she always picked this before anything else. John closed his eyes and tired to block out the image, because the longer it stayed in his mind, the more it hurt. John checked to make sure the gun was loaded and then placed it in to one of his coats large pockets. "Your team obviously don't trust me, so why are you giving me a gun?" Derek smirked and nodded his head, seemingly impressed, "Alistair trusts you, that might not be good enough for most of us, but I trust Alistair. If he trusts you, then so do I". John nodded to show Derek he was ready. Derek smiled and nodded his head down the corridor, towards the entrance, "Okay, when we're out there, do exactly what I say when I say it. Do that and we'll both get back alive". John nodded his head and felt nervous, it sounded like he was expecting to find trouble out there. John followed Derek down the corridor towards the entrance, where he could see a large group of men standing guard. Derek stopped and turned to John, "Don't say anything to these guys, just ignore them".

John nodded and looked to the large group. John's groaned when he saw recognised the ring leader of the group. It was the man who attacked him when he arrived with Allison. Derek moved along the corridor again, and John followed closely, not looking forwards the impending confrontation. As they approached, all the men turned to stare and the ringleader, upon seeing John, moved himself to block the way out and nodded his head in John's direction "He's not going anywhere Reese". Derek stopped and frowned. John had the feeling that this wasn't the first time these two had squared off against each other. Derek didn't back down and looked ready for a fight, "You don't want to go down this road again Burke. We might not know who he is but Alistair's let him join us. He's one of us now, so deal with it, now get out of the way". Despite being outnumbered eight to one, Derek was standing his ground, wiping the smirks off all their faces. Burke moved around Derek to stand face to face with John. Not wanting to be off guard again, John removed both hands from his pockets, this time ready to defend him in case he attacked. Burke stared at John as if trying to read his mind and John just stared back. "You might wear that coat now, but your not one of us. I've already told you once and I'll tell you again, I'll be there to throw you out when Alistair comes to his senses. Mind you, it won't matter soon; he won't be in charge for much longer". He smirked again and Derek grabbed the front of Burkes coat and pushed him back against the wall. "What the hell do you mean by that Burke?" Burke began to laugh, apparently amused by the situation, "Careful Reese, you're in deeper then you think". John couldn't help but agree with Burke. His seven friends all raised their rifles and aimed at Derek, who reluctantly let go of Burke, who again laughed, "I didn't mean anything by it Reese. Alistair is old, he won't last much longer. When he's gone, there's going to be a lot of changes around here". He and his seven friends all burst out laughing and they lowered their weapons and stepped aside, allowing Derek and John to pass. Derek turned to John, his face red with fury, "Lets go". John did as he was told, not wanting to stay anywhere near Burke or his friends any longer. As he took a step after Derek, Burke gave John a firm push against the wall, much to the amusement of all of his friends. John resisted the urge to pull out his pistol and shoot him and made after Derek without responding to their taunts.

Once they were outside, Derek turned to the now closed door, which blocked out any sounds that Burke and his friends were making, "Fucking two faced bastard! I don't care what Alistair says, one of these days, I'm goanna kill him". John didn't say anything as Derek slowly calmed down. He waited patiently, ignoring the cold of the damp and dark tunnel they were in. "What did he mean by Alistair not being in charge for much longer?" Derek turned to John, still looking angry and John wished he's didn't say anything, but Derek calmed down quickly, "Alistair's very old. He's our leader; it's his decisions that have kept us alive. But we have to move around all the time, we're always low on food, water, medical supplies. It's all taking its toll on him". Derek's rage had now completely dissipated and was now replaced by sadness. Derek held up his rifle and primed it nodded his head down the tunnel, "Let's go, keep your eyes and ears open. We haven't got any dogs with us, so we won't get any warning of the machines, so be extra careful. We're looking for a way out like a door outside or a shaft or something". John nodded and withdrew his pistol, and primed it with out looking at it. Derek then made his way down the tunnel, and John followed. The further along the tunnel they got, the more dark and uninviting it seemed to become. They passed through the room where John and Catherine appeared from the past and Derek glanced at the circle of buckled concrete with interest but didn't say anything about it.

They pressed on in silence, left, right, right again, left again, another right. John tried to keep track but eventually couldn't remember them all. Derek on the other hand, seemed to know where he was going, much to John's surprise as every tunnel and turn looked the same to him. Derek eventually stopped at another turn and stared down a long empty tunnel, and John stared also. To him, it was just another tunnel, more or less the same as he others he'd just walked through. But the longer he stared, the more different it seemed to become, the more dangerous it seemed to be. "You don't patrol this tunnel do you?" Derek nodded his head, "We don't normally go any further then this. We usually have a few days to find a clear rout out of places; we better hope we don't run in to anybody, people or metal". Derek primed his rifle, aimed it ahead of him and moved slowly down the tunnel. John readied his pistol and followed him, hoping more then ever that they wouldn't run in to the machines. His pistol after all, was more or less completely useless against the metal machines, and Derek's rifle wouldn't fare any better. They edged forwards slowly, not making a sound.

The only sound was of leaking water, which flowed through the many cracks and holes in the roof and walls, leaving large damp patches on the ground. At the end of the corridor was a fork, branching off to both the left and the right. John looked down the left tunnel and saw nothing but darkness, not even a single glimmer of light. The right tunnel was more or less the same, except light managed to shine from above, through large cracks in the roof, though the tunnel looked like it would collapse with the slightest touch. Derek looked from one to the other, trying to decide which way to go. He eventually decided to take the lighter tunnel and John agreed with him. They moved down the tunnel. As they past the holes in the roof, John looked up in to them, wondering where the light came from. He couldn't see far enough though, as the light blinded his eyes. The tunnel became dark again as they pressed on, and suddenly, without warning, the sounds of quick footsteps began to approach them. Derek turned and grabbed John by the arm, and pulled him with himself in to the darkness of the tunnel, kneeling down so to help better disguise them. The footsteps became louder and louder, until three people hurried past them, two men and a woman. They didn't notice either John or Derek hiding in the shadows. They stopped at another turn and looked in all directions, obviously looking out for someone or something. All three of them were dirty looking, their faces were dirty and their clothes were in no better condition. Each of them held a single pistol, and had a second around their waists in a cowboy's holster. "I'm sure I heard them, I'm telling you I heard someone. They're around here somewhere!" the woman sounded excited and was almost jumping up and down. The two men both nodded in agreement with her and were listening trying to decide which way to go. Coming to a decision, they immediately turned left and headed down another tunnel, their footsteps dying down to nothing as they got further away.

Once Derek was satisfied that they were gone, he let go of John's arm. They moved back out of the darkness and listened hard but John couldn't hear them, they were long gone, "Who were they?" Derek didn't answer right away and was still listening for them, but once he'd was satisfied that they were gone, he turned to John. "Thieves. They knock you out and take everything you have, guns, clothes, food, water, anything and everything. Then they leave you for dead. Those three might have been the ones who attacked you". John tired not let his face move. He didn't want Derek or anyone to know that he lied. Derek shrugged his shoulders, looked down both ways of the tunnel and then began to move down the tunnel where the thieves originally came from. "At least they were only thieves, anybody else; we would have been in real trouble". John couldn't help but be curious, "Like who?" Derek gave him a glance, looking like he was checking if John really wanted to know. "It could have been slavers, rapists, anybody. There's dozens of gangs. The slavers speak for themselves. They attack groups, usually at night when most people are asleep. They kidnap women and children. Some they keep for themselves, the others are sold to the rape gangs or other slavers. They're careful who they attack and who to take. They always take children and only pick good looking women. The better looking the women, the more other slavers and rape gangs are willing to pay for them". Derek looked angry as he spoke and John felt sick. Slavery was something that the western world stopped doing a long time ago, and now it was back, and seemingly worse then before. "What do the slavers get paid in? Money's worthless now". John wasn't sure if money was worthless or not and was hoping his hunch was right. He didn't was to arouse Derek's suspicion. Trust was a hard thing to earn and as he already had Derek's, he didn't want to loose it. Thankfully, his hunch was right, "Yeah, money's worthless. They mostly get paid in alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. They spend a week partying after a slave grab and a good sale. Once they're out of stuff again, they do another slave grab and do it all over again".

They turned another corner and found themselves facing a dead end, the tunnels having collapsed. After seeing there was no way around it, they turned around and looked for another way around it. "Have we…, I mean the group been attacked by slavers before". Derek nodded his head and for the first time, John saw Derek was upset and was close to tears. "We've come across a few of them before and we've lost people to them". John knew that Derek had lost someone close and so didn't press the subject. They carried on moving slowly, through the tunnels found themselves near a sewage pipe, which had burst and had allowed sewage to spill all along the corridor. Holding their noses, they rushed through it, moving carefully to avoid stepping in the disgusting mess. Neither of them moved their hand from their noses for a while. When they finally had clear air to breath, Derek's radio beeped, making them both jump. Derek saw the funny side and laughed it off before holding the radio up to listen. "Derek, we've got metal in the North West tunnels, about three miles from home, we're pulling back as instructed". Derek put the radio down and turned to John, "Dam it, three miles is cutting it close, way to close. We've still got a mile until we're that distance so lets take things slow, just in case". John nodded, knowing that if they took it slow, they were less likely to be heard.

They pressed on, turning more corners and sometimes having to double back as they hit dead ends and or a collapsed tunnel. John understood the need to stay quiet, but the silence was just as unsettling as their location. "What about the other gangs? What do they do? You've told me about the slavers, what about the others?" John was relieved to see Derek was happy to talk again, like him; he didn't seem comfortable with the silence. "Rape gangs do exactly that, they rape women. They raid other groups like the slavers do, kill the men, take the women and rape them. They keep raping them until they get pregnant. Once the baby's born, they rape her again until she's pregnant again. We caught a small group of them who tired to raid us; they didn't know how many of us there were. The leader told us they were saving humanity from extinction by forcing women to have children. That's when Alistair killed them". John's mouth fell open. "Alistair did what?" Derek turned to John, smiled and nodded. "You'll learn that the only thing Alistair hates more then the machines is a rapist. He's never told anyone why, but he despises them. Me and my brother have tried to get him to tell us, but he won't budge. We have ideas, but nothing more then that. We think one of his daughters was raped years ago, before all this happened, before Judgement day. We're also pretty sure the guy who did it, he got away with it. That's why he and Burke hate each other.". John nodded, understanding Alistair's hatred in an instant. "What did Burke do?" Derek stepped and shook his head, realising what he had said. He'd obviously not intended to say what he did. "I'm not saying anything about it. That's between Burke and Alistair. I'd be careful what you say in front of both of them. Only a few of us know about Burke and it's going to stay that way, don't' say anything to anyone, alright?" John saw that Derek was serious and quickly nodded his head. John already hated Burke, but now, he hated him even more. After turning another corner, Derek's radio beeped again and Alistair's voice came threw this time. "Derek son, your brother has us a place to stay. Radio your team and come on back and we can leave immediately". Derek gave a sigh and turned to John, "I'm glad that's over. The only thing I'm worried about now is Kyle's new place. Last time, he put us next to a burst sewage pipe. It stank worse then what you smelt back there earlier". John couldn't help but laugh and Derek grinned as he held up his radio, "Hey Tom, we've found a new home". Derek lowered the radio slightly and waited for a response.

He waited and he waited and after every second passed, the more concerned Derek's face became. "Tom? Gareth? Come in!" Again there was no reply and the look on Derek's face told John everything he needed to know. They were dead. Derek held the radio up again, his face full of worry, "Alistair! Gareth and Tom are missing. Get out now. If it's metal, they can follow the route they took back to you". There was silence and John had a horrible feeling that the machines were already there, but thankfully, Alistair responded. "I understand son, we'll start moving, are you coming back now?" Even over the radio, John could tell Alistair already knew the answer to the question. "No, if they're still alive, we'll find them". Derek moved the radio towards his pocket, but before he did so, Alistair spoke again. "Does John agree with you to go in search of our men? I don't want you to take him against his will". Derek looked up to him and John was surprised that Derek didn't do exactly what he would have done, which was lie. John thought Derek much hold a lot of respect for Alistair to go against his wishes and Derek was waiting to see if John agreed. To John, there was only one answer, and he took the radio from his hands. "I agree. We'll find them and catch up with you later". He handed the radio back to Derek, who nodded with respect. Alistair's voice came through the radio a final time, "It means a lot to hear you say that John, Thank you son". Derek smirked and finally, put the radio back in his pocket, "It's rare for Alistair to say something like that to someone, especially to a newcomer". He smirked and walked past him and John couldn't help but be confused, so decided to take it as a compliment. They backtracked half a mile until the found a tunnel which led them towards where Tom and Gareth were supposed to be. They again walked in silence, which John thought was prudent as they had quickened their pace and were making more noise then before. Derek became more frustrated with every dead end they came to and after a while, so was John. Every time they thought they had found a way, it was blocked off by a collapsed tunnel. Eventually, they found what they were looking for, which turned out to be a half collapsed tunnel and both of them rushed through just in case the rest of it collapsed before they could do so. Once through, Derek stopped and stared down the only tunnel they could next go through, but he didn't move, "Derek, what's wrong?" Derek shook his head and turned to him quickly, "We're either going to find them both dead or walk in to a trap, or both. Neither of which are something I'm not looking forward to". John nodded his head and this time, against his better judgement, he took the lead, holding his pistol out in front of him, ready to fire at the slightest movement. John led the way, taking extreme care to check around every corner to make sure it was clear.

The further they got, the colder it seemed to become and it didn't take long for John to start shaking. It wasn't just the cold that was making him shake, it was also fear. He'd only been here in the future for a few days now and he'd been more terrified now then he had ever been in his life. This wasn't going to stop him however, he came here to find Cameron and get her back, to save her. Nothing was going to stop him from that. He didn't care how scared he was; only a bullet to the head would keep him from Cameron now. John stopped and peered around another corner and that's when he saw them. Both Tom and Gareth were halfway along the corridor, and both were motionless on the floor. "Derek, they're here!" His voice was little more then a whisper but it was enough for Derek to hear him. He peered over John's shoulder and groaned as he saw them on the floor. John eyes weren't on them, but on the darkness of the corridor. The corridor was strangely darker then the others he'd been through and he couldn't help but feel that something was in the darkness that shouldn't be there. John turned to look at Derek, who seemed to be debating on whether to go forward or not. Eventually, he nodded his head, "Keep your eyes open for red eyes".

John looked blankly at him for a moment before he remembered that the eyes of the machines were red. They moved side by side and held their weapons up and ready, moving very slowly and taking one step at a time. John had his eyes fixed on the black darkness, thinking that two red dots would appear from nowhere and a machine would appear seconds later, but nothing came, no red eyes appeared in the darkness. "John, you check them, I'll keep and eye out". John did as he was told and knelt down next to the first man. He was lying face down so John rolled him over. His face came in to view and John knew he was dead without needed to check him. He heard Derek whisper to him that it was Gareth. His eyes were wide open and his face was fixed in a shocked like state. John pressed his fingers to his neck. He already knew he was dead, but he felt that he had to do it in any case. John couldn't find a pulse, confirming he was dead. By looking at the body, John came to the conclusion that his neck had been broken, as his neck looked slightly twisted. Before moving on to Tom who was lying just over three meters away, John raised his hand and closed Gareth's eyes, an act which Derek seemed to take note of. John then stepped over Gareth and knelt down next to Tom. He was lying on his back, his wide eyes and scared looking face looking up to the ceiling. John checked for a pulse again and again, he couldn't find one. They were both dead. John closed Tom's eyes, and stood up next to Derek. "I'm sorry". Derek nodded his head in thanks, "I've known them both for nine years. Good guys, both of them". Before either of them could say anything else, a sound came to John's ears, a sound that sent cold chills all the way up his spine. He could hear footsteps, metal footsteps, and they were getting closer. "Do you hear that?" Derek looked up from the two bodies and listened hard. The look on his face told him everything John needed to know, "Take their guns, quickly!" John grabbed Gareth's rifle and handed it to Derek, who now aimed both rifles down the corridor in the direction of the metal clanging footsteps. John quickly moved to Tom's body and grabbed his rifle, but Tom's hands were tightly gripped around it and no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't pull the rifle free, "Hurry up John!", Derek was already beginning to back away.

John couldn't stop himself from looking up towards where the machines were coming from; their metal footsteps seemed to clang louder with every step. John resorted to getting the rifle by pulling each of Tom's fingers free. Each finger seemed to be fixed in place and John reluctantly was forced to break three of them to get the rifle from his grip. Just as the rifle came free, John looked up and two machines came around the corner, their red eyes fixed on John. Everything from John's nightmares all through his life seemed to be in the tunnel with him. He was more or less defenceless against not one but two machines. Every instinct in him told him to run but he was fixed in place, unable to move in fear. Gunfire echoed through the tunnel as Derek, using both his own and Gareth's rifle pulled both triggers and John could see the bullets from both guns hit the machines, bouncing harmlessly off their metal chassis. At seeing this, John finally found that he was able to move again and ran behind Derek, who continued firing rather pointlessly at the machines, who had now begun to move towards them. Once John got to the end of the corridor, John stopped himself from running away and resolved to stand and fight. Turning around, he held up Tom's rifle and his own pistol and readied himself to fire, "DEREK, MOVE!" Derek turned and after getting over the surprise of seeing John ready to fight, turned and ran towards him. Once Derek had past him, John fired his rifle and pistol. Like Derek, John aimed the rifle at the machines chassis, but he aimed his pistol at the second machines head. The pistol being smaller, it was easier it aim with it using one hand. Despite this, the bullets carried on bouncing harmlessly off the machine's metal bodies.

It didn't take long for John to run out of ammo and as he turned and ran around the corner, the two machines fired their own rifles. Much to John's surprise, they didn't fire bullets like he and Derek were, they fired something else, some sort of blue light. They both missed as John turned the corner and as he looked at where they hit the wall, two smoking black marks could be seen on the wall. "JOHN!" John ran towards Derek, who had taken up a position next to another turn, back the way they came. John ran and stood behind him, "I've got no ammo!" Derek just realised what John had said when the machines came around the corner and fired. Derek and John couldn't do anything but duck and run down another tunnel towards then next corner. The machines didn't seem to be in any hurry to kill them, as they didn't run and instead just walked after them. Once at the next corner, Derek reached in to his pockets and pulled out two ammo clips, one for John's pistol and the other for his rifle. John took them and began to reload his weapons, just as the two machines came in to view again. Derek opened fire, using small bursts instead of wasting the entire clip. Derek only just managed to duck out of the way as the machines fired again. John nearly cried out in shock as the machines missed Derek by an inch. He'd already seen his uncle killed by a machine; he didn't want to see it all over again. Derek ran past John, who readied himself for the machines next appearance. The machines metal clanging footsteps got louder as they got nearer and John couldn't help but think the machines were doing it on purpose. Hearing them coming was just as bad as seeing them coming. Once they again came in to view, John felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as their red eyes focussed on him. To save ammo, John put his pistol away and followed Derek's example by firing short bursts from the rifle. This time, John aimed for the machines head, firing one burst at the first machine and then a burst at the second.

Again, the bullets bounced harmlessly off the machines metal frame. John repeated this process another three times to no effect until the machines fired again. John now had to duck and felt the heat of the blasts as they hit the wall behind him. Right before John turned and ran; he fired a final time, and hit one of the machines in its right eye, which shattered. The machine shuddered slightly, before continuing to advance. John turned and ran again towards Derek, who was waiting at the next corner, "Aim for their eyes!" Derek nodded at John's instruction and fired as soon as the machines came in to view. The machines this time didn't give Derek a chance to fire, as they fired multiple times with their rifles. Derek managed to fire a few times but was forced to run again. "JUST RUN!" John had positioned himself again to fire but did as he was told and ran. He didn't know where he was going but he kept running. He could hear Derek was right behind him and not far behind Derek and quickly catching up to them both were the machines, their metal feet clanging loudly with every step. Every time John looked back, he could see Derek right at his heels and behind him, closer every time, he saw the machines red eyes, three eyes in all, fixed on them, getting closer for the kill. The machines could have easily killed them both with their rifles but they didn't shoot, they wanted to kill them like they did to Gareth and Tom, they wanted to break their necks.

John didn't know what happened next. He suddenly couldn't move his legs and he fell face first to the floor. Gunfire echoed through the tunnel and John held his hands over his ears. Through the gunfire, John could hear Derek shouting, "THEIR EYES! SHOOT THE EYES!" He could tell Derek was also on the ground next to him by the direction his voice came from. The gunfire seemed to go on forever and John couldn't more, no matter how hard he tried. Even when the gunfire died down, John didn't dare look up. He waiting for cold metal hands to grip and break his neck. He heard footsteps drawing closer and he braced himself for the inevitable attack. Instead, he felt someone give him a soft kick against his arm. Looking up, he saw Kyle looking down at him, a large grin on his face, "Your not goanna do any good lying on the floor there kid". Kyle held out his hand and John, taken aback once again by the presence of his father, took his hand and was pulled to his feet. "Thanks!" Kyle nodded and moved to Derek, who was sitting on the floor beside them. Derek looked up at his younger brother, "What took you so long; I might have killed them both before you got here". Kyle held out his hand again, "Next time, I'll leave you to rot. Then I can have that bottle of vodka you've been hiding under your pillow. Besides, you two were making enough noise to bring every machine in the city down here; it wasn't hard to find you". Both the brothers grinned at each other and Derek accepted Kyle's hand and was pulled to his feet. "Gareth? Tom?" Derek shook his head and Kyle lowered his in disappointment. Other then himself, Kyle and Derek, there were five other men with them. All their rifles, including Kyle's had smoke drifting from the barrels. Turning around, John could see the both machines lying on the ground.

Both their faces were damaged and all of their eyes were gone. The machines still twitched but they lay more or less harmlessly on the floor. Two of the men moved passed John to the machines and took their rifles from their hands. Instead of keeping them as John thought, they both threw the rifles down the corridor, out of reach of the machines, "Why don't you keep them? They should be effective against the machines". John looked to Derek who shook his head, "True, they are, but the machines put tracking devices in every rifle. We can't take the rifles apart. The machines aren't too fond with us having their weapons". John nodded and turned his head back to the twitching machines. They were both moving in the same fashion as Cromartie did when Cameron blew his face apart with her shotgun. They were still active. "What are you goanna do with them?" John looked to Derek again, who looked at the machines himself before looking back to John, "Nothing, they've already sent a message out for help. More machines will be here soon, so we better get out of here. They'll be repaired and thrown back to look for us, they always do". John just stared at him for a moment, not liking the idea of the machines being repaired. Deciding to do something about it, he pulled his pistol out of his coat pocket. The other five men all aimed his rifles at him, but Derek and Kyle raised their arms to stop them and they lowered their rifles again.

They all watched him as John made his way to the closest machine. John stood over it, looking down threw its destroyed eyes. With its eyes exposed, John could see a small red glow from within its head. He knew he could destroy the chip. He knew where it was thanks to Cameron. Raising his pistol, he fired three times. The machine shuddered more violently before it powered down, the red glow in its head disappearing from sight and the machine stopped moving all together. "How the hell did you know how to do that?" John ignored Derek as he went to the next machine. Its face was in more or less the same shape as the other, with both its eyes destroyed and a red glow could be seen. Even the chip was slightly exposed. Raising his pistol again and aiming at the chip, it took only one bullet to destroy the machine, which stopped moving in an instant. John stood back up and turned back to the group, who all had a surprised look on their faces. John waited uncomfortable for them to say or do something and thankfully, Kyle turned to his brother, "Come on, everyone's already leaving and we've got to catch up with them and Alistair will want to hear about this". Kyle turned to look at John, who thought Kyle was going to say Alistair would be angry by what he did, but Kyle grinned and said, "He'll be impressed!"

They headed back to their hideout, no one saying anything. They all had their eyes open. Even John found himself looking behind him and down every tunnel and passage way they passed, expecting to see machines hiding in ambush. Thankfully, every tunnel and passage way was empty, except for a small number of very large rats. The next thing John knew, he was walking past the room where he and Catherine Weaver appeared in from the past again and moments later, he was passing through the door in to the hideout. The group came in the main room, which looked surprisingly larger then it was the last time John saw it earlier. It was almost completely empty, except for a few people who were hurriedly packing the last of their things in to backpacks. Everyone except John moved off to get their things, Kyle and Derek both disappearing through one of the nearby doors. John, who didn't have anything to pack, just waited and watched as the last of the people left through the door to Alistair's office. Alistair himself appeared from that same door and looked relived when he spotted John and marched over, "John my son, your back. I feared I lost you and Derek. Did you find Gareth and Tom?" John didn't like what he had to say next but he wasn't going to lie to someone he respected, "I'm sorry, but they didn't make it". Alistair nodded, seemingly expecting that answer. "It is a shame; they were young and had their whole lives ahead of them. We're hold a service for them once we're all safe and I'll ask Derek for details on what happened. Come with me John, we're leaving now, don't worry about the others, they know where to go".

John nodded and followed Alistair towards the door. Behind him, he heard a door open and he casually looked back to it. Allison was in the door way, weighted down by four large bags. Cecilia was holding on to her right arm for support and Allison's dog chased its tail behind her. Allison was having trouble moving with the weight of the bags and John could see that she was also carrying his sleeping bag, which he had left in her and Cecilia's room earlier. Feeling instantly selfish for leaving there for her to carry, John handed Tom's rifle to Alistair and put his pistol back in to his coat pocket. He walked over to Allison, who didn't see him until he was standing right in front of her, "Here, let me help you". He held out his arm and took hold of a strap on what looked like the heaviest bag, but she shook his hand away, "No I'm fine, I don't need any help". Allison's dog began to growl again from behind him and looked ready to attack him. Cecilia, despite her blindness, took hold of John's coat, "You're not supposed to be here. Go back and forget about the one you came here for". She let go of his coat and again took hold of Allison's arm. John, slightly taken aback by Cecilia's words, turned again to Allison, "Look, I know you don't know or trust me, but I'm offering to help, so please, let me". He held out his arm again and after a lot of hesitation, Allison gave John the bag. Knowing that with Cecilia's blindness, Allison would need to help Cecilia to walk, John took three of the four bags, including the one with his sleeping bag, leaving Allison with the lightest one.

She seemed surprised that John was offering to help and even more so as John picked up the bags and threw the straps over his shoulders. The bags were indeed heavy, the straps dug painfully in to his shoulders, but he ignored the pain and stepped out of the way, allowing Allison and Cecilia to pass. She tried to hide the small smile that became fixed on her face as she passed him, guiding Cecilia towards the door, her dog following her faithfully. Alistair had watched and listened to everything John had said and he smiled from across the room, looking admirably at him. John then followed Alistair the rest of the group and moved out to their unknown destination.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Hearts and Minds

John and the group of people he joined now lived beneath what used to be somewhere new beneath what was left of Los Angeles. They arrived safely at their new home, which turned out to be a large basement of an old hotel, which in turn had many rooms. Every room was quickly turned in to sleeping areas and groups of two or three shared a room. By the time John got to the basement, most of the rooms had been clamed and he was forced to share a room with two other men who were both a few years older then John. They both ignored John the best they could. John immediately attempted to leave to begin his search for John Henry and Cameron. However, Alistair insisted that John say until they were sure that they were safe from other gangs and the machines. Alistair also promised to aide John in his search in exchange for little more then patience. Already holding a lot of respect for Alistair, John relented and put off his search. It was only when John stopped to think about it was when he realised how foolish it would be to leave now. He didn't know where to look for a start and he knew little to nothing about the outside world. The machines were the greatest threat but beside the machines, there were other humans, divided in to gangs. Many of these gangs were based on greed and enslavement and had no interest in fighting the machines to save humanity. Not knowing more about these gangs could easily get him killed, so leaning more about them would aid him in his search. Three days after the forced exodus of the group, John found himself on guard duty at one of five entrances in to their new home. John sat on a small overturned barrel by a small hole in the wall, in which he could watch for movement in the corridor outside. He held his hands out over a small barrel, in which a small fire burned to keep his hands warm. The hole in the wall gave him an almost perfect view of the room outside, which branched off in to five other corridors. Every so often, John would raise the rifle he was given and aim it through the hole.

He would listen with all his might, fearing a machine would appear from one of the corridors. After the events of three days ago, John's childhood memories of running for his life from the T one thousand resurfaced, bringing to life a renewed fear of the machines in to him, which he had been attempting to subdue most of his life. But with that fear, came a determination to push the fear in to the back of his mind and replace it with an urge to fight them and beat them. Once again and for the forth time that night, a group of rats came in to view, making John grin, shake his head and lower his rifle again. He watched as the rats, six in all, moved through the water, which covered a large part of the ground due to three burst pipes. The rats followed the flow of the water down one of the corridors and disappeared from sight. John didn't like the idea of being anywhere near rats when he first saw them that night, but after a while he realised that in living underground, he'd most definitely have to share his space with rats, so quickly accepted them. John gave a sigh, his eyes red with tiredness as this was his first night watch. It made a welcome change from sitting around doing nothing for the past two days. He actually enjoyed it as it gave him a chance to think things through and figure out what to do. A rule of the group was that there were always two men guarding a door inside at any one time, so John wasn't alone.

Unfortunately, John was paired with one of Burke's friends, who took full advantage of the situation and slept the entire time, leaving the guarding to John. Another rule was that a dog must be present at all times at every door. The dog with John seemed to be thinking on the lines of Burke's friend and slept most of the time, only lifting its head every so often to listen as groups of rats went by or to growl and show its teeth to John, who it didn't like. Movement behind him made John jump as he turned and two men, both of them Burke's friends, coming along the corridor towards him. John didn't like the idea of being in a small space with three of Burkes friends, who over the past three days had proved to be as just spiteful, aggressive and selfish as Burke was. John immediately turned away from them and pretended to look out through the hole in the wall. He heard the two men's footsteps draw closer until they came to a stop behind him. John resisted the urge to turn around to look as he could tell that they were both looking at him. Knowing that their arrival meant his shift was over; John stood and walked down the corridor, past them and away from the entrance. For a moment, he thought they wouldn't notice him leaving but just as he reached the final door, one turned around to stop him, "Where do you think your going? Your shifts not over for another hour". John looked to his watch and saw his shift actually finished half an hour ago. He then turned to face the men. The one John had been on the shift with had now woken up and all three were staring at him, all amused by their own taunting, "My shifts finished and I'm goanna get some breakfast, you got a problem with that, take it up with Alistair!"

He instantly wished he hadn't said anything, he didn't want to bring Alistair in to any problem he was having, especially if that problem involved Burke and his thugs. They sniggered again and the lead man of the three took out his pistol and aimed it for John's head, "You're not going anywhere until we say so. Get back here and watch out for metal now". Just as John was about to reply, the door behind him opened and Derek came through, looking concerned, "Where the hell have you been John? We've been waiting for you". Derek's eyes fell on the three men and in particular, they man who was aiming a pistol to John's head, "Is this what it's coming to, killing our own people. Lower the gun now!" Derek's hand darted to his own pistol and took a hold of it, but he kept it in the back of his jeans. John had an uneasy feeling that an old fashioned cowboy duel was about to occur but Burke's friend backed down and lowered his pistol. He shook his head and his eyes fell on John again, "He's not one of us and he never will be. You better watch your back Connor, someone might out a bullet in it soon". He sniggered and turned back to his friends. Derek let go of his pistol and turned back towards the door he came through, "Come on". John followed and closed the door behind him, relived by Derek's sudden intervention. They didn't say anything as they walked and John eventually could hear the now familiar chatter and laughter of the people as they ate their breakfast in the largest room of the basement.

Derek led the way inside the room which was full of tables and chairs. The old hotel had stored a lot of things in the basement for them to find, including beds, mattresses, pillows and blankets. There wasn't enough for everyone to get a fair share but John was happy enough to receive two pillows and a blanket. They at least provided some extra comfort and warmth, especially during the very cold nights. The tables were all surrounded by people eating their breakfast. John followed Derek to the table at the far side of the room, where Kyle was sitting alone. Derek sat down beside him and John took a seat opposite them both. "So, where'd you find him?" Derek turned to his brother, a grin on his face, "He was still on shift, having and argument with three of Burke's thugs". Kyle turned to John and grinned, seemingly impressed, "You'll have to be more careful John, especially with Burke and his thugs. They don't take kindly to people standing up to them". John tried to keep himself from staring at Kyle. Years of wondering what his father looked like and what kind of man he was made John prone to stare at him. He tired his hardest to not to, but he found it difficult. Derek reached behind him to another table and took two tin cans and passed one over to John, "I know you like these, so here's the last one". John, slightly confused, opened the tin can and grinned at the sight and smell of peaches. He nodded his head in thanks and began to eat. John couldn't help but notice that the table behind Derek, which was where most of the food was kept, was almost empty.

Despite his urge to give the food to someone else, he couldn't deny his hunger anymore as he hadn't eaten anything in three days. As he was eating, he had an uneasy feeling he was being watched. John looked up to Kyle and Derek, who looked up in return, "What's wrong?" John didn't reply as he turned himself around and he looked behind him. At the other end of the room, he spotted a door which was slightly open and as he looked closely, he could make out the figure of a teenage girl with brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. When she noticed John had spotted her, she closed the door quickly with a bang. John turned back to his food, and noticed Derek was grinning widely, "She likes you". John blinked and watched as Kyle nodded in agreement, unable to say anything as his mouth was full with small peaches. "Who does?" Derek rolled his eyes, "Allison does or course, she likes you. About time if you ask me, she's never liked anyone, both she and that dog of hers. She keeps to herself mostly; she spends most of her time looking after Cecilia". Kyle again nodded and swallowed his food, "And you can't deny that you like her too John. We all saw the way you looked at her when you first saw her. I can't blame you really".

Both Derek and Kyle grinned at him but John tried not to think about it. He tried not to acknowledge the fact that he looked at her the way he did was because he thought at first that she was Cameron, and not just Cameron, but a machine as well. Kyle finished with his food and stood up, "Well, You'll both have plenty of time to talk later. The three of us, Allison and a few others are heading out in a few hours. Alistair will explain what's going on. He wants to see you once you've finished". Kyle then got up and with a smile, left the room. John quickly finished what little food he had left. Just as he was finishing, there was a loud bang as a door was kicked open and everyone turned to stare as Burke entered the room. He looked around the room until his eyes found John's. Burke shook his head, looking both furious and insulted by John's presence and he sat down at the nearest table to him. The room became full of noise again as people moved their heads together to talk, all glancing from John to Burke in quick succession. John looked up to Derek, who gave him an encouraging smile, "Don't worry about him. Burke and Alistair have fallen out over stupid things before, you being here is just the latest on a long list". John nodded his head, not feeling confident about the situation at all. He felt responsible for the growing rift that was forming in the group. Trying to put the thought out of his mind, John ate his last peach and stood up, "See you later". Derek nodded his head, not really paying attention as he was eating what looked like a rotting apple, but he didn't seem to mind. He seemed to be deep in thought. John left the room as quickly as he could and headed towards where Alistair slept.

John found Alistair's door was open and could hear him breathing deeply, as if he was exhausted. John didn't even bother to knock and stuck his head around the door to see. Alistair was sitting at a desk, his hand held over his heart. His breathing was erratic and he was struggling to open a bottle of pills. John walked in to the room and took the bottle from his hand and opened it, "How many do you need?" Alistair held up two fingers so John took out two pills from the bottle and put them straight in to Alistair's mouth. Finding a clear glass of water on the desk, John held it up for Alistair to drink, which he did a little too quickly. John placed the bottle of pills and the now empty glass of water back on the desk and waited for Alistair's breathing to slow. "Thank you my son, thank you. I don't know if I would have gotten that bottle open in time, Thank you". John nodded and at Alistair's insistence, took a seat opposite him, making John feel like he was about to be interrogated again. "What are the pills for?" Alistair laughed, shook his head and waved his hand, "I'm old John. I've been dying for over twenty years. Before Judgement day, the doctors told me I only had three months left. Well, they were wrong and I'm still here". He smiled, trying to reassure John but John felt uneasy. He'd known Alistair for about a week and already found himself feeling upset by his possible future death. Alistair took note of this but didn't say anything more on the subject.

"I get the feeling that you want to ask me something John". Nodding his head, John took a deep breath so not to speak to bluntly too quickly, "It doesn't take a genius to know you and Burke have been arguing about me being here, being part of this gang or whatever. I already know that you want me to stay, but I feel like I'm imposing on you, on everyone…" Alistair held up his hand, stopping John in his tracks. John waited patiently and felt bad by the down look on Alistair's face. "You are not to blame for Burke's actions or attitude towards you. Burke is selfish, violent, arrogant, and aggressive; the list is a long one. He thinks that I am too old to be in charge of this group, and sometimes, I agree with him on that point. He doesn't like it when he doesn't get his own way and he doesn't get his own way a lot of the time. You are just the latest example. Do not worry yourself with Burke and his friends John, you have already proven yourself in your short time with us and that makes you a better man then Burke will ever be". John couldn't help but grin but couldn't help but be confused. "Proven myself? I haven't done anything". Alistair shook his head, amused and laughing at the same time, "Haven't done anything, you couldn't be more wrong my son. Derek spoke very highly of you. You volunteered to continue on to look for two men who we all knew were dead. When you found them, you closed their eyes, which I know is not really significant, but to myself and a few others, you showed a lot of respect towards two men you didn't know and most importantly, when you and Derek were confronted by the two machines, you didn't run away, like so many people would have. You fought back and together with Derek, you successfully made enough noise for Kyle and a few others to find and aid you both to destroy the machines. You tell me you haven't done anything, but it seems you've done quite a lot already".

John tired not to think about each individual event Alistair had just listed. He couldn't think of anything to counter Alistair's words, so he admitted defeat and nodded his head. "You see my son; you've already made an impact on everyone here. They won't show it at first, but they will eventually". John gave a small grin, one that Alistair returned. "I think we both need to put Burke out of our minds for now my son. Stay away from him and stay close to Derek. Now, enough on Burke, I think now I must tell you about our current situation". "What situation?" Alistair bowed his head and held his hands together on the desk before him, taking deep breaths. John thought he'd have to go get the bottle of pills again but Alistair raised his head just as the thought came to John's mind. "I am sure you have already noticed our food supply is become dangerously low. We have been unable to find sufficient amounts of food for three months now and we have been unable to hunt and grow food anywhere ourselves. Our fresh water supply has become dangerously low and I'm afraid to say that if we do not find a source of fresh water soon, we'll be forced to drink sewage water. I don't know about you, but I'm not too keen on that course of action". He smiled, almost laughing at his own words but stopping himself from doing so.

John returned the smile, despite not finding anything he said funny at all. "Food and water. Is that what you're sending me and Derek to find?" Alistair nodded and gave another smile, "Yes, I want you to accompany one of the teams I'm sending out, if you are willing. I won't send you out if you don't want to. Everyone who is going has volunteered for the task". John quickly nodded his head, showing he was willing to go. Alistair's grin became fixed as John nodded his head, "Excellent, most excellent. As you are the newcomer to the group, helping to find us food and water is a good first step to winning the hearts and minds of the people here with us. I would also like to add that I am sending you along with this particular team because you and the others will be meeting with another gang". John stared blankly at him for a moment, instantly thinking the gang they were going to meet were slavers or worse, "Another gang?" Alistair bowed his head again. "Yes, they are a group similar to our own. They don't live too far away from here and

You could call them our allies, one of the few we have. We haven't seen them for over a year now and unlike us and despite the extreme dangers, they stay in the same place. I want you and the rest of the team to find them if they are still alive. They are a small group, the last time we saw they, they only numbered around thirty people. Their leader is a man named Donovan. He and I are old friends and I'm sure he'll be happy to give the information we require, if he's still alive. Just let Derek do the talking, he knows what to do. Also, this is an opportunity for you to begin your search for this friend of yours. If my mind still serves me right, Donavan's daughter Katrina acted as a scout for the group. She knows the area better then anyone. If your friend has passed through the area, she will know, if she is still alive of course". John couldn't keep the smile from his face. He now had a lead, however small, which was one step closer to finding Cameron. He stood up and walked for the door. He was already half way down the corridor when Alistair's voice echoed behind him, "John!" Stopping, he turned around to Alistair, who was leaning out from through his door, "Please! Don't do anything too rash. Look after yourself and come back to us alive". John nodded and Alistair disappeared back in to his room. John didn't know if he could do anything more rash then what he'd already done, which was jump forwards through time with out a seconds thought in search of a machine he cared about more then he should.

John headed back in the main room and to Derek, who was just finishing his own food, "Did Alistair give you the heads up?" John nodded his head, "Yeah, he did". Derek nodded his own head and stood up from the table, "We're leaving in an hour, meet us by the entrance you were guarding last night. Until then, try and relax, save your strength". John again nodded and Derek disappeared down the corridor towards the room he shared with his brother Kyle. John did as he was told and moved towards his own room, which was situated in another corridor at the opposite side of the large basement. It wasn't exactly his room, he shared it with two other people, both of whom didn't speak to John and just left him alone. He couldn't figure out why, but he preferred it that way. It must have been with moving around a lot in his youth that made him used to being alone most of the time, as he was never able to make friends for long.

Opening the door, John went inside, finding both his room mates were still asleep. They slept in a large bunk bed at the back of the room, next to two burning barrels which provided a little heat to stay warm. John was forced to sleep by the door, where it was coldest and he didn't have any other means other then his sleeping bag, pillows and blanket to keep warm with. He sat down on top of his sleeping bag and tried to ignore the loud snoring of his two room mates. As he sat, he closed his eyes and thought once again on why he was here, what he came for. Cameron was a machine and a dangerous one at that. She had tired to kill him once before but he found that he couldn't kill her when he had the chance to. He didn't understand why he didn't do that, but he never once regretted his decision. He didn't even know what forced him to follow her to the future. He acted on instinct and without thinking; something which Cameron would say was reckless of him. He could picture it in his head now. Cameron standing before him, he'd just put her chip back in and she spoke, saying exactly the opposite to what he wanted to hear, "You shouldn't have come for me, what you did was reckless. You are too important to risk yourself for me". He could then picture his mother, her green eyes both hurt and angry by his actions, for leaving her in the first place. He found that thinking of his mother and Cameron, especially Cameron was surprisingly more hurtful then he thought. It wasn't the thought of her that hurt him but the thought that she was gone, that she wasn't part of his life anymore. Three soft knocks on the door woke John, who in his surprise hit the back of his head against the wall. Groaning in pain, his two room mates snorted in their sleep at hearing the knocks but continued to snore seconds later.

All John had to do was reach up to the handle, as he was so close to the door. Turning the handle, the door slowly swung open and the first thing John saw the sharpe teeth of Allison's dog. His eyes darting upwards, his gaze fell on the concerned face of Allison. "Hey John, are you okay? We're waiting for you". John blinked and just stared at her, more taken aback now then ever by her arrival. They hadn't spoken to one another since they arrived here and he didn't even know she knew where he slept. The longer he stared, the more stupid he felt, but he couldn't think of anything to say to her or even take his eyes away from her. The only word he could think of to describe her was 'beautiful'. Due to his staring, Allison's face quickly turned red and she turned away as she blushed. "Derek sent me, we're leaving now!" She stepped back in to the corridor, her face full of embarrassment. John stood up and automatically looked to his wrist for the time, only to find that he wasn't wearing his watch, having left it in the past. Shaking his head to shake off his tiredness, He stepped out of the room and closed the door quietly behind him. Allison's dog once again began to growl at him, its sharp teeth looking sharper then ever. Allison knelt down and tickled behind its ears and grinned as the growling stopped in an instant, "I'm sorry about him. He's a little overprotective. He'll attack anything that gets too close to me". John grinned as she stood up, "I've noticed". She grinned back and took a firm hold of the lead that was attached to her dog's collar. "Come on, we're already late". Allison headed along the corridor and after making sure his had his pistol and spare ammo, he made after her. Every few seconds, she would glance back at him, leaving a fixed grin on his face.

A small band of armed men and women were waiting for them by the entrance. Derek and Kyle both turned and grinned at them as they approached. By the looks on their faces, it was obvious they had sent Allison to get him. Allison moved next to Kyle and knelt down next to the dog again and tickled its ears, keeping it from growling at anyone who moved to close to her. Derek took John aside, his grin still fixed, "You must have fallen asleep or something, we should have left ten minutes ago". John quickly stuttered an apology, only for Derek to wave him down, "Hey, don't worry about it. None of us are exactly in a rush to go out there. Between you and me, I'd rather stay here and let someone else go. As this is technically your first time out, we've got two rules. First, never go out at night, unless you've got no choice. Second, never go anywhere alone, unless you've got no choice. You understand that". John nodded his head, understanding instantly why those rules were in place. Derek looked pleased by John's eagerness and turned to the group. John now looked at the others who were going to go with him. Derek and Kyle stood by the entrance, talking quickly to one another. Allison stood next to them, for the first time looking out of place and nervous. Her only source of comfort was her dog, who sat faithfully beside her. John didn't know any of the other seven men and women by name, he'd seen them around the basement and all were armed and most didn't seem bothered by where they were going. John guessed they had done this sort of thing before and where used to it. He watched as Kyle looked out of the hole in the wall and Derek turned to the group, "Alright, you all know the drill. If all goes well, we'll all be back here by tomorrow. Pair up and lets go". Just as John looked around as people began to pair up, Burke and two of his friends appeared, smug looks on their faces. Everyone went silent and turned to stare as they approached. "Hold up Reese, we three are going with you".

Derek, who so far had been almost cheerful, looked like he was ready to explode, "I don't think so. I only take my guys when we go top side, no one else. You're not wanted here Burke, and you never will be". Burke's smug face changed in to a grimace and he growled at Derek "I don't give a shit about what you want Reese. The fact is, I'm going. You'll probably end up walking into a trap so you'll need my help if you want any chance of getting out of it alive". Burke's eyes flashed in John's direction. He still did not trust John and believed he was a mole ready to lead them to their death. "Let's go then, after you Reese". Derek moved towards Burke raising his fist to punch him, only for Kyle to grab his arm and stop him, "Leave him Derek, he's not worth it". Burke and his friends laughed as Derek turned away, looking furious, "That's right Reese. Do what your baby brother says. Walk away. Your not man enough for this fight". Only Kyle's intervention kept Derek from punching Burke, whose smug face looked more amused by the second. John could tell by the looks on everyone's faces who were watching that they would love nothing more then to see Burke lying on his back with a bloody nose. Derek threw Kyle off him and with one last angry look at Burke, opened the entrance door and stepped out in to the corridor. Burke and his friends sniggered at each other as Kyle quickly followed Derek outside, trying to calm Derek down. John kept himself out of the way, not in the mood to have another confrontation with Burke. That was until he saw Burke's eyes find Allison, who like John, was trying to be unnoticed. Burke moved towards her and John found himself moving quickly towards her also with out having any plan formulated in his head, he felt an uncanny protective urge toward Allison which both confused and excited him. He cut across Burke and without a word or a glance at him, took Allison by the arm and followed Kyle and Derek outside. Once they were outside, he let go of her again.

He expected her to be angry at his rough action but she looked more relived then anything, "Thank you. You've got no idea what he's like with me". John grinned back, ignoring the unfriendly growls of her dog, "Not a problem. If you have any problems with him in the future, just let me know". He spoke without thinking and quickly regretted his words thinking that it sounded so corny, but she seemed to be genuinely touched by what he had said. Before she could reply, Derek's voice overshadowed everyone else's, silencing everyone in an instant, "Everyone keep your voices down. Allison, you're up front with me. I'm sorry but your dog is the only one we've got and you're the only person that it won't bite!" All fourteen of them, including Burke were now outside in the corridor. Burke had just closed the door as he was the last to leave. His angry face not once taking its eyes from John. Allison gave John a small smile then headed forwards to take her place next to Derek, taking a pistol from her pocket. Holding his rifle steady, Derek took the lead, closely followed by Allison, who held on to her dogs lead with her right hand and her pistol in her left. Kyle gave John a firm pat on the back and pushed him forwards after them, "Come on, get moving. We scouted these tunnels yesterday, with any luck, we'll be topside in ten minutes". With his fathers urging, John followed them, taking out his own pistol and holding it ready in his hand. After John and Kyle, everyone else followed. The last to leave were Burke and his two friends, not even bothering to raise their weapons.

The supposed ten minute walk turned in to an hour of creeping through a seemingly endless maze of corridors and tunnels. On more then one occasion, Allison's dog growled furiously at what seemed to be nothing at all. Everyone however, still backed off and every time they did, voices and heavy footsteps would be heard. They would get louder and louder before dying away again with out them actually seeing the source of the noise, leaving the impression that they were hearing things. Derek pressed the group on and finally, they could see daylight, shining brightly through a half opened metal door at the end of another long tunnel. John felt a surge of excitement as this would be the first time he'd be outside in the day since coming here, but he also felt a surge of dread. This was the future, the world was in ruins, which meant that outside, the once vibrant city of Los Angeles which he off handily once called home, was nothing more then a pile of ruins. Derek stopped the group from moving and looked nervously at Allison's dog, which had its eyes on the far end of the corridor. They all waited silently for the dog to growl or not and much to everyone's relief, the dog remained silent and sat down faithfully next to Allison. Derek kept his eyes on the entrance for a moment before turning to Kyle, who was standing with John, "I'll go check it out, you know what to do if something happens?" Kyle shrugged his shoulders and with a grin said, "Yeah, save you from certain death, as usual".

The brothers grinned at each other for a moment before tapping each other firmly on the shoulder. John watched his father and uncle do what must have been a small tradition between the two. John heard Burke laugh and speak under his breath from the back of the group. Hate and anger surged through him at Burke but he didn't act on his angry impulses and kept calm. Derek moved down towards the sunlit entrance and he disappeared in to the outside light. John stared after him, expecting to see him reappear in any moment and tell them that it was okay, but as the seconds ticked on, the more nervous he became and so did Kyle, "Does Derek usually take this long?". Kyle didn't answer at first, and when he did, it was nothing more then a nod. John didn't think he was in a talking mood and so turned his gaze back to the entrance. For a while they all waited in silence, the only movement coming from Allison as she stroked her dog's ears. Kyle finally broke the silence, turning to John to talk, "The first time Derek went outside alone, I was just a kid. He was out for hours, a lot longer then he was supposed to. I thought he was dead. I cried for hours. Then the machines came, raiding the tunnels we lived in. They killed anyone who resisted them and took the rest of us to Century work camp. I didn't see Derek again for over six years. We barely recognised each other when he found me after we'd broken out". Kyle went silent at the mention of the break out from Century work camp. John felt that he was being watched and turned around to see Burke staring at him from the back of the group, "What's the matter Connor? Is Reese telling you about Century? About his big brother? Are you gonna cry?" He and his friends burst out in loud laughter and in his anger, John flicked the small safety switch on his gun. Thankfully, Kyle saw this and he quickly put his hand on John's shoulder, shaking his head, "Don't do anything stupid. He might be an arrogant bastard, but we need him, so ignore him, he'll get bored eventually".

John quickly flicked the safely back on before anyone else noticed and put the gun back in to his pocket. Kyle sighed, glad that John backed down. John glanced once more at the entrance, hoping to see Derek but saw nothing. Enjoying having a conversation with his father, John tried to think on something to keep it going, "Before Century, were you and Derek alone?" Kyle, who had also been looking at the entrance, turned slowly back to him, "At first, yes, we were alone. When the bombs fell, we went underground. Some friends of our parents were there and they looked after us. Things were alright for a while, but the food and water started to run out and then the killing started. I was just a kid and I still have nightmares about it. What people started doing to each other, words can't describe it, and it was just horrible. Then Alistair found us and took us in. He's been like a father to me and Derek, he looked after me when the machines captured us and took us to Century. He kept me safe, kept me alive. There's no man I respect more then Alistair". John could tell by the sound of his voice that Kyle was very proud of Alistair. The sound of falling rocks made them all jump; Kyle aimed his rifle at the entrance, where the sound came from, as did everyone else, except John and Allison. They heard more rocks fall and much to everyone's relief, Derek came in to view, "its all clear, lets go". Kyle gave a loud sigh, lowered his weapon, marched forwards and embraced his brother.

John looked around behind him and was amused to see that Burke and his two friends didn't look at all happy about Derek's return. Derek and Kyle moved through the door and stepped outside. The rest of the group began to move forwards also, all of them looking excited by the prospect of going outside. John stepped aside and allowed them to pass by and saw that Allison hadn't moved to her spot. She was still knelt down next to her dog and didn't look like she had any intension on moving any time soon. John made his way towards her, "Are you alright?" Allison jumped in shock, not knowing he was there, "Yeah, I'm fine, it's just I haven't been top side in a long time and its dangerous out there, it scares me". A sudden laugh made them both turn their heads around to see Burke leering, "Scared are you Allison? Why don't you stay close to me then, I'll keep you real safe". Allison looked like she was going to be sick by the very thought and didn't answer. Burke pushed his way past John and turned around again, "If you're so scared, why don't you go back to that old bitch you look after and comb her hair?" Allison looked away, her face turning to a bright red as she did as tears pricked her eyes. Burke and his friends laughed again before continued on walking towards outside. John resisted the urge to take out his pistol from his pocket and shoot Burke in the back. He knew better then most that there was nothing wrong in being scared of something and so, held out his hand to Allison, "There's nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone's scared of something, even that idiot Burke". Allison looked up and blinked back her tears, looking both confused and intrigued at the same time, "Why are you so nice to me? You don't know me" John grinned at her and knelt down beside her, "Why wouldn't I be nice to you. You're a good person, and I know I don't know you, but I'd like to, if you'll let me". He held out his hand with a grin, slowly but purposely, she took his hand. After John pulled her to her feet, he let go of her hand. They both looked to the entrance to the outside, her dog sitting beside her, surprisingly, being very quiet. John took a step forwards and saw Allison had remained still, her body shaking with nerves and her breathing gave her fear away. John held out his hand again, "Come on, you don't have to go alone". She smiled, looking both relieved and happy by John's presence and took his hand again. He could feel her hand shaking in his grip and did his best to relax her as they walked out of the underground tunnel and in to the blinding light of the outside.

John couldn't remember any time in his life when his eyes hurt so much in the sun. They felt like they were on fire and they watered uncontrollably and he was forced to feel his way up a small slope, towards the sounds of Derek's voice, pulling Allison behind him, whose eyes were also streaming. John felt himself falling backwards, losing his balance as he was pulled back down by Allison, her dog barking in alarm. Two firm hands grabbed the front of John's coat, pulling him forwards and back up the slope, Derek's voice ringing in his ears, "It's alright you two. Your eyes will adjust in a minute or two". Derek pulled them up and John gave a sigh as he stood on flat, solid ground. Having been underground for over a week, John's eyes took a while to get used to the sunlight. Allison and the others had been underground for a lot longer then he had been, so they took longer to get used to the sunlight. When John was able to focus again, every image he remembered of Los Angeles was quickly pushed out of his mind by what he was seeing. They were sanding in a small clearing, surrounded by dead trees. As far as he could see, there wasn't a single building still standing that wasn't more then two stories tall. Many buildings had been destroyed completely, leaving only their foundations in the ground. Rubble lay everywhere, little more then relics of what they once were. All around the group were trees, all dead and black as ebony. John looked up to the sky, finding instead of the clear blue sky which was common above Los Angeles, a dark and murky one. Black clouds covered most of it, leaving most of the land looking dark and gloomy. The sun shone brightly through the few gaps in the sky, including on where they were all standing, but the sun gave them no warmth.

It was if the sun had gone cold, but its brightness remained. John felt nothing but sadness and regret of what he was seeing. All that time they spent trying to stop judgement day, stop the war from happening had been for nothing. He actually did think that they could have stopped it at one point that they'd never have to fight a war. But seeing the world as it was now put that thought out of his mind. "You were probably too young to remember what it looked like once!" John turned to Derek, who had joined him in looking over the ruined landscape, "Yeah, I guess I was, what was it like?" John felt like an idiot asking that question. He had lived in Los Angeles long enough to know it was far from perfect, nothing ever was. But compared to was it looked like now, it was a paradise. Derek shrugged his shoulders, not seemly bothered, "I never really cared, but it was better then it is now". John nodded in agreement as Derek turned to the rest of the group, who were all like them looking over the landscape, "Come on everyone, we've already taken longer then we should. If we don't pick up our pace, we're not going to get there by dark. Keep your eyes open, all of you and that includes you Burke. Burke, who hadn't been paying much attention, rolled his eyes and turned away to his friends again. Derek ignored him set off down a narrow path with was overgrown with dead grass, closely followed by the others in the group. John turned to Allison, who was standing looking extremely nervous by herself, looking around in all directions as if expecting a machine to appear from no where. Seeing that Burke had his eyes on her again, John quickly moved towards her and held out his hand again.

She turned to look at him again John couldn't stop his protective instincts over her taking a firm hold over him again. Shaking his head slightly, he gripped her hand, "Your not alone out here, I won't let go of you, I promise". Allison nodded her head and some colour returned to her cheeks, "Thank you". Together, they set off down the narrow path after the others. They walked none stop for almost two hours, dropping to the ground and remaining still when large aerial machines flew by overhead. John didn't know how but Derek and Kyle seemed to know where they were going. They moved though the remains of old housing estates, using the derelict buildings to mask themselves from any machines that could spot them over long distances. John looked through each house they went through with renewed sadness, as every house would have housed a family, mother, father and children. But all these houses were now empty shells. The thing that disturbed John more then anything was the sight of the human skeletons. He was nearly physically sick when he saw his first one. It wasn't the fact that he had seen a skeleton, that didn't bother him. What bothered him was that the skeleton was tiny, it was a baby, little more then a few weeks old, still in its cradle. John tried to push the image out of his head, but the further they went, the more skeletons he saw. It wasn't a sight he was going to get used to in a hurry, as he felt more and more guilt with every one he saw, holding himself responsible for all their deaths. He once actually believed, just for a single moment, that they could have stopped it, stopped the bombs from ever falling, but that moment was a long time ago, with someone he cared about far more then he should.

Allison noticed that something was bothering him but didn't say anything, despite her want to. John guessed she probably would have offered some words of comfort if she wasn't scared of where she was, or she just couldn't think of anything that would comfort him and he didn't think she ever could. What surprised John more was that other then a few large aerial machines flying in the distance, they didn't come across any machines, not even a small scout drone. They left the houses behind them and entered a wooded area which was full entirely of dead trees. The woods were very uninviting, and if John hadn't been brought up the way he had been, he knew he would have second thoughts about going through them. They stopped by a small stream, hidden among dead trees, which combined with the rapidly approaching darkness of night, made the place look and feel so uninviting. Once everyone had stopped, Derek turned to the group, "Alright everyone, sit down and take a break. Donovan's place is about half an hours walk from here. We're leaving in ten minutes. We have to get there by dark". Burke's laughter of disbelief echoed through the area, "Are you stupid Reese? Look around you, it's already dark. You haven't got a clue where you're going, have you?"

Despite hating Burke, it didn't stop him from being right. The sun was rapidly setting and dusk was fast approaching. Derek didn't reply as he sat down, taking a flask from his pocket and taking a long drink. Everyone followed suit and Burke, who was disappointed by the lack of a response from Derek, did the same. John found an old log from a fallen tree and sat down, giving a sigh of relief as his feet were in a lot of pain, he hadn't walked so far in a single day before. Everyone was deathly quiet as they rested, not daring to make to loud a noise. When ever someone spoke, it was little more then a whisper. Sitting alone, John took small gulps of water from a small bottle he had brought with him. The dusk night and cold were starting to get to him, so he didn't drink much. He crossed his arms tightly in an attempt to stay warm. John looked from one person to the next, looking at their faces. They were all nervous, scared even by their situation. None were more scared then Allison however, who was sitting alone with her dog. She was shaking rapidly and not because of the cold. She was holding on to her dog with fear, looking around in panic at the slightest sound. Knowing he couldn't leave her alone, John decided to go comfort her, but before he could, Kyle sat down next to him, putting his hand down on John's shoulder to keep him from getting up, "Hey John, I need to talk to you, about Allison".

John instantly stopped from trying to get up, "Sure, what about her?" Kyle looked around, making sure they weren't being overheard, "I've seen a lot of things in my life John, a lot of things I wish I hadn't. I've seen people killing each other over a scrape of food, children wondering aimlessly around, all alone because their parents were dead. A lot of things. I never saw her but Allison was one of those children". John's mouth fell open, "What happened to her?" Kyle shrugged his shoulders and they both turned to watch Allison quiver alone, "You must know something about what happened to her?" Kyle again shrugged his shoulders, "She's scared of the outside, scared of the dark, scared of being alone. I don't know much about what happened to her. I know that Cecelia found her when she was just a kid, about three or four years old. Allison was alone, out in the dark like it is now. She was just a kid; you can't imagine what kind of effect that had on a girl that young. It was lucky Cecilia found her and took her in. Maybe if you get to know her, she might trust you enough to tell you what happened to her, if she even remembers. She and Cecilia joined us about five years ago and since then Allison had cared and looked after her, done more or less nothing else. She hasn't got any friends because she doesn't sleep with every new man that joins our group like the other girls her age do and they bully her for it. Burke hasn't made things easy for her since he took a liking to her. She keeps herself to herself; her only real friend is that dog of hers". John nodded, his feelings and protective instincts for Allison growing stronger, "What do you want me to do?" Kyle once again shrugged his shoulders, smiling at himself as he if he couldn't do anything but shrug his shoulders, "It's not really any of my business, but Allison is the loneliest person in our group. Just be her friend, that's all I ask. Cecilia is like Alistair, she's old and she's dying. When she does die, Allison will have no one, she'll be alone".

John nodded his head and turned to look at Allison, who did look very lonely where she sat, she didn't even notice him looking at her. With out looking back to Kyle, John stood up and made his way over to her and sat down beside her. Her dog again growled at him from her other side, but as Allison didn't object to his coming, it quickly went silent again, though it kept its eyes on him. "Are you ok?" He already knew the answer to that question, but felt he needed to ask it never the less. She shook her head, then looking behind her in alarm at the sound of something John didn't hear. Looking around himself, his eyes searched through the trees for anything out of the ordinary, but he saw nothing. He turned back to Allison, who looked disappointed in herself, "You must think I'm an idiot, a scared stupid little girl". John shook his head, giving her some measure of comfort, "You're not a stupid little girl. The fact that you volunteered to come out here, that's very brave of you". She smiled, such a sweet smile, a smile he had seen before, but it hadn't been from her, but from a machine that he cared about far more then he should do. The same machine he came to the future to rescue, his Cameron. With John beside her, Allison seemed to be more at ease, smiling softly every time she glanced at him. Derek eventually stood up and turned to the group again, "Alright everyone, lets get going". Nobody moved straight away, all looking from one person to the next, deciding if they should. Once Kyle stood up to join his brother, everybody else followed him. John helped Allison to her feet and after giving her a smile of encouragement, joined the others in leaving the stream.

Leaving the stream and the darkness of the dead wood behind them, they came out of the trees and in to a town. Here, the town seemed to be engulfed in a soft mist, making the town look eerie. John couldn't help but think there were machines lying in wait. Just looking around, he didn't think anyone could live there, "Welcome to Avocado Heights, Donovan's place should be at the other side of town", came Derek's unenthusiastic voice and John knew that they had arrived at their destination. Not liking the hushed silence around him, John took out his pistol, doubting it would be of any use of they were ambushed by machines, but feeling slightly better with it in his hand never the less. Allison shivered beside him and their hands found each other, grasping tightly in the dark as they all pressed forwards slowly, weapons raised. As they past the derelict and destroyed buildings of the town, they seemed to take on ghostly shapes. They groaned and creaked as if they were alive. The further they went, the more ghostly shapes he seemed to see. He didn't know if anyone else saw the same thing, but he suspected Allison did, because when he glanced at her, she glanced fearfully back at him. They all waited for Allison's dog to alert them to the machines, but it remained silent, sniffing the ground ahead of it as it walked slightly ahead of Allison. Even with the dog's silence, the group were on edge.

The group kept close together as they moved slowly through the town, Allison stayed close to John both desperately trying to keep calm as the moonlight created the illusion of something moving within the shadows. Derek stopped and looked around. "This is it" he announced but there was nothing to indicate the existence of Donovan and his group. Derek looked around and glanced at Kyle who was mirroring his shocked look. The place looked deserted, it was a burnt out shop front, no one could live here. John looked around and thought to himself that this had been a huge mistake. Whoever once was here was now long gone. There were several bodies of people, scattered across the floor, all in a state of early decomposition , the smell of death hung in the air turning John's stomach as he struggled to compose himself. Death was something he'd never get used to. "It sure as hell wasn't the machines that did this, probably slavers", Kyle stated, looking like he was going to be sick. "Are you mad Reese? Where the hell have you brought us? I should have known you'd cock this all up, you've had us all trailing around on a wild goose chase" Burke stepped forward shouting at Derek. "Now hold on a minute" Kyle grabbed Burke's arm. He shook off Kyle's hold and pulled out his gun and aimed it at Derek's head and then froze. Silence fell as Burke turned his head to see the entire group, except his two friends, pointing their weapons at him. At that moment the dog began to growl, John and Allison both saw slight movement in the shadows and turned to face the oncoming threat. The dog growled louder as the shadow moved closer, the group turned and huddled closer together. "Later Reese" Burke growled at Derek.

Realising the shadow had stopped moving, John took a step closer to Allison who looked terrified, he touched her arm gently and whispered to her "It's okay, it's not the machines", "How do you know?" she whispered back, "If it was, we'd be dead already" he replied. The dog was now tugging hard on his lead growling so loud it drowned out the sound of the approaching stranger. Derek, Kyle and Two others moved forward in front of the group. "Show yourself", demanded Kyle and was quite taken aback when a young woman stepped out of the shadows, her jet black hair covering most of her face "Well you guys are making enough noise to bring every machine in the area here you stupid fucks!, now who the hell are you and what do you want here?" she demanded rather forcefully. Derek moved forward and she pulled a gun out from behind her back and aimed it straight at his head. Kyle stepped forward "We're looking for Donovan, Alistair sent us". The woman lowered her weapon and looked directly into Kyle's eyes, "Alistair?, that's a name I didn't think I'd here again, we thought he was long dead.". "He should be!", Burke muttered under his breath and his two mates sniggered with him like silly school boys. Derek glared angrily at them before turning back to the mysterious woman. "I'm Katrina, Donovan's my father. If your not here to kill us then follow me and shut that bloody dog up!". Allison glared at her with a mixture of anger and fear. "Why the hell should we trust you, you could be leading us in to a trap, you're probably working with this bastard".

Burke indicated to John as he spoke and Katrina eyed both John and Burke with suspicion. John rolled his eyes at Kyle who shrugged once again in response. Burke continued his ranting and pointed his gun at Katrina saying "I'm not going anywhere with this bitch, we're leaving now". As soon as he raised his weapon Burke heard movement behind him. The dog by now was barking aggressively and Allison was desperately trying to keep a firm hold of him. John and Kyle both saw at the same time movement in the shadows and realised that the whole time they had been surrounded by an group of men all with weapons aimed at their small group. Katrina pushed Burke's gun away and grinned "You'd be dead before you could take the safety off you prick!, we've been following you since you came in to town!". Then she turned to walk away and glanced back over her shoulder at Derek "You coming or not?" The group looked around to each other unsure of what to do. Derek looked at Kyle and grinned before following Katrina, the rest of the group followed along with a red faced Burke.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Life and Death

The two groups moved quickly through the darkness after Katrina, who seemed to move faster then all of them without making much effort. John and the others had trouble keeping her in their sights, as she constantly disappeared and reappeared again in the mist. As they walked, John realised that the mist and shadows had tricked him earlier. He thought there were around twenty men with Katrina when she appeared but there were actually far less. He couldn't get an exact number, as they seemed to keep their distance from John and the other newcomers. Like Katrina, they disappeared and reappeared in the mist, which was steadily getting thicker. Even if he could get an exact number, it didn't look like any of them were friendly. The one closest to John hid his face under a black hood and seemed very jumpy, raising his weapon at the slightest sound or sight of movement. He couldn't get a good look at any of them, as they covered their faces under long black hoods. "If you don't want metal on top of us, then hurry the hell up", Katrina hissed loudly at the group. Her tone was enough to quicken everyone's pace, including John's. Katrina turned in to an alley behind a ruined store and stopped in front of a large hole in the back wall of the building. The hole was covered by a steel door, which looked to have been forced in place as a replacement for the old bricks that once made up the wall. Katrina kicked the door twice and then pointed to Derek and Burke, "You two, move this thing out the way!" Neither of them moved, both of them taken aback by her bluntness. She waited for them to move, looking more annoyed the longer they stayed put, "Look, you two are the ones who couldn't keep your mouths shut. If we're not underground in two minutes, we'll all be dead, now MOVE IT!" The instant she finished speaking, John heard a soft rumbling sound, coming from somewhere in the distance. At first, John thought it was a plane or a truck, but quickly realised that was impossible. It was the sound of two large engines he was hearing, engines of a very large machine. It didn't take long for the others to hear it as well. Allison's dog immediately began to growl. Not needing any more encouragement, Derek moved forwards, as did Kyle in place of Burke, who stubbornly refused to help out, despite the approaching machines.

The door must have been heavier then it looked, because both Derek and Kyle seemed to struggle to move it, forcing two others from the group to help out, much to Burke and his friend's amusement. Slowly but surely, the door came free, revealing a narrow staircase, which descended down in to nothing but darkness. The sounds of the rumbling engines could now clearly be heard by all and knowing they had little more then a minute until the machines arrived, nearly everyone pushed forwards, determined to get through and down the stairs first. Only John, Derek, Kyle, Allison and Katrina stepped back out of the way. They all looked up as not one, but three large machines flew over the town, each of their powerful twin turbo engines making the nearby ruined buildings shake. Two large lights came to life from their underbellies and shone down on the town, scanning the ground in search of them. John took a terrified Allison by the arm and quickly followed Katrina down the stairs. Derek and Kyle quickly followed and began to push the steel door back in to place as quickly as they could, panicked looks on their faces. John and Allison eventually came to the bottom of the stairs and found themselves at the end of a long corridor, which had obviously been recently dug under the town, as large rocks and long wooden planks held up the ceiling. Everyone was crouched down, looking fearfully towards the ceiling. John couldn't help but feel scared himself, as it looked ready to cave in on them all at any moment. Katrina saw that they were standing idle and took both Allison and John by the scruffs of their coats and pulled them away from the stairs and forced them down to the floor, ignoring the very angry growls of Allison's dog and said "You two get down, stay still and be quiet!".

Katrina moved to the opposite side of the corridor and sat down by herself, her eyes on the stairs. Derek and Kyle appeared at the foot of the stairs and quickly got down to the floor with the rest of the group, "Door's back in place but it won't hold for long if the machines want to get down here". Katrina rolled her eyes as if she already knew that and looked up to the ceiling like everyone else. Everyone including John was deathly quiet, all except Allison's dog, who was barking madly towards the stairs. "If you don't shut that bloody dog up, I will", Katrina hissed at Allison, who stared in horror at the large knife she just pulled out of her pocket. Allison pulled her dog towards her and whispered softly in to its ear. The dog sat down beside her and went silent in almost an instant. Katrina gave her a dark look and put her knife away. Suddenly and without warning, a large explosion echoed from above, shaking the corridor violently. Any thought or notion of remaining quiet quickly disappeared, as everyone scrambled to their feet, only to be thrown to the floor again as a second explosion shook the corridor. The three machines flying above the town were now destroying it. Explosion after explosion echoed through the corridor from the ground above, as the machines destroyed building after building. Large parts of the tunnel were now collapsing under the strain and John heard the screams of two men as they were crushed and buried under the rubble. John covered his head on instinct with his hands and glanced up as Allison screamed. Her saw blood on her hands, which were covering her own head. Her dog had run off towards the stairs, barking madly at the machines above. Before he could act, John looked up as he heard a loud cracking sound as the ceiling above him and Allison gave way. The planks of wood which were holding the ceiling up snapped clean in half. John saw every rock fall in slow motion, and knew if he didn't do something, both he and Allison would be killed. Without thinking, he threw himself sideways and pushed Allison to the ground. Using himself to shield her, the rocks fell and struck painfully in to his back and his head, and the last thing he heard and saw before passing out was Allison's horrified screams and terrified face.

"Hey John, Wake up. Open your eyes, are you alright?" John's eyes shot open, his head aching with pain. A strong small of sewage hit his nostrils, making him want to throw up. Lying on his back, he tried sitting up, only to find his head hurt more and even if he wanted to sit up, he was pushed back down again, "Hey, take it easy, you took one hell of a blow to the head. Try and relax". Kyle's voice seemed to echo, John put that down to his concussion. He tried to move his head again but the pain was too intense. The next thing he knew, Kyle was holding a bottle of water to his mouth. Thirsty, he drank eagerly from the bottle until he had drunk half of it. Kyle retracted the bottle and drank the rest himself, breathing heavily when he finished. Despite the pain and the urge to go to sleep, John opened his eyes. His head hurt even more, but he could see clearly. He was lying on the floor and Kyle was kneeling next to his, his forehead and hair red with dried blood. "What happened?" John knew it was a stupid question as soon as he said it. Kyle groaned as he sat down next to John, raising his hand to his head. "God dammed metal tried to bury us alive, that's what happened. We were lucky only part of that tunnel collapsed. If the whole thing had caved in, we'd all be dead. It would have caved in if the machines didn't start shooting at something else. They must have spotted some unlucky bastards and went after them instead". He groaned again as he held his head, fresh blood flowing from the wound hidden by his hair, "I saw what you did by the way, with Allison. You saved her life and nearly got yourself killed doing it". The final image of Allison's horrified face hit John like a ton of bricks, "Is she alright? Where is she?" He tried to sit up again, but Kyle once again pushed him down to the ground, "I told you already, take it easy. Allison's fine, she took a blow to the head as well, but you took most of it for her. She's over there". Kyle pointed up and over his shoulder. Despite the pain in his head, he pushed himself upwards. This time, Kyle didn't stop him. Looking across the room, he could vaguely make out the outline of a teenage girl lying down. He couldn't tell if it was Allison or not as he couldn't see her face, but the fact her dog laid protectively beside her confirmed that it was her.

He could see her chest rising and falling as she breathed, sending a surge of relief through him as he could see she was alive and only sleeping. John took the chance to look around the room. Other then himself, Kyle and Allison, there were six others. Three of them had been knocked out like Allison and had other injuries, including nasty cuts and large bruises over their skin. The other two people lay motionless in the corner of the room, a large grey blanket covering their bodies and hiding their faces. John turned away from them quickly, not wanting to look at the bodies of the dead. He lay back down and turned his head to Kyle, who was again wiping fresh blood from his head, "How's your head?" Kyle laughed, quickly stopping and groaning as his head hurt, "It looks worse then it is. I'll probably need stitches or something. Katrina said they've got a doctor at where they live who can take a look at it and sort you and the others out". John nodded but regretted it as his head hurt again. Reaching around to the back of his head, he could feel the stiffness of dried blood in his hair, feeling more grateful then ever that he was still alive. "Where's Derek?" Kyle nodded his head towards the only door leading out of the room, "He's out there, digging with the others. They should be through in no time. I wish they would hurry up!" John lay back down slowly; making sure his head hit the ground softly. He looked up to Kyle and couldn't help but notice how alike he was to him. John had inherited many of Kyle's facial features and his hair colour. They even sat the same way, their body movements almost exactly the same. John couldn't help but smile, happy to learn where he picked up some of his habits from.

John thought he must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, Derek had came in to the room and was helping Kyle to his feet. The first thing John noticed was how filthy Derek looked. His clothes were covered in mud and dust and his skin was in the same condition. "The tunnels clear enough to get through. Katrina says it's at least a twenty minute walk. We better not keep her waiting; she's really pissed off at us". Kyle didn't ask for a reason why Katrina was angry and merely nodded. He didn't offer any resistance as Derek checked his head wound. John slowly got to his feet, his head feeling a little better but it was still painful. Standing up straight, he groaned in more pain. He tried not to think of the many bruises he knew he had on his back off the rocks that nearly crushed him. The only thought that comforted him was the fact that because of him, he had the bruises, and not Allison. The rest of their team came through the door and began trying to wake those who were injured. He spotted Katrina at the doorway and true to Derek's word, she looked furious. She glared at John for a moment, looking like she was scanning him to see if he was a machine. John was grateful it was she who broke eye contact first and looked away again. Ignoring the defensive growls from her dog, John knelt down beside her. She had a large cut on her forehead where she was hit with a rock. John gently shook her arm and she groaned as she was woken up and she tried unsuccessfully to open her eyes. What little light there was in the room seemed to bother her. She slowly reached to the cut on her forehead and groaned again as she felt it. A familiar rumbling sound could once again be heard from above them and after a few seconds of silence from everyone, it was clear the machines finished with who they had spotted and had had come back to finish the job they started. After the experience of almost being buried alive, there was a rush for the door. Derek and Kyle both helped the wounded to their feet and quickly left the room. Kyle stopped and turned to John, who had remained by Allison's side, "John, help Allison up and get her out". John watched as Kyle left, the man he was helping holding on to him for dear life. John turned back to Allison, who looked more dazed then anything else, "Allison, give me your hand, we've got to go".

Allison groaned again and looked like she was going to pass out just as quickly as John had woken her up and he couldn't blame her. The large cut on her forehead looked enough to knock out almost anyone. Knowing they didn't have any time and ignoring the fact he still felt dizzy and his back ached with pain from the rocks that nearly crushed him, John moved his arms beneath her and lifted her up in to his arms. Standing upright, he balanced himself and made sure he had a firm grip on Allison. She groaned again and didn't seem to know what was happening to her, a fresh flow of blood coming from her head wound. Without another thought, John followed the others out the room. John didn't know where he was going or what was going on around him. The tunnel had already largely collapsed and was now only wide enough for them to move in single file. The combination of carrying Allison and her dog barking madly at him as if he were kidnapping her was making things more difficult, especially when he repeatedly came close to tripping over him. As the machines came above the town, screams of frustration and fear echoed through the tunnel. John though it was impossible for the machines not to hear them, even with their loud turbo powered engines. He was quickly proven right when they opened fire once again, right on top of them. The tunnel shook and instantly began to collapse completely. John couldn't do anything but push himself onwards after the others. With Allison in his arms, John was forced to sidestep through the narrow tunnel to stop her from hitting her head against the wall and for this reason, he quickly fell behind the others. The fact that the tunnel was collapsing around him and Allison's dog sticking close to his feet wasn't making things any easier for him. Ahead of him, he could see Derek and Kyle had stopped and had turned towards him and were waving their arms frantically, "RUN JOHN! GOD DAMMIT RUN!" They were both beyond the collapsing tunnel, safe from the falling rocks which were now falling from above him, hitting both him and Allison, who groaned in protest but didn't wake up. The machine bombardment didn't falter as the machines were determined to bury the all alive. When it seemed he couldn't do anymore, John mustered what little strength he had left and jumped forwards.

The tunnel completely gave way and came down at exactly the same moment. John closed his eyes and thought that it was all over for him and for Allison, that they were going to die. But when he hit the ground, the crushing feeling he expected didn't come, though the sound of falling rocks was clear as day. He kept his eyes firmly closed and waited for the feeling of being buried alive to come over him, but it never did. Instead, he felt Allison's dog pressing its nose to his face and to Allison's, who was unconscious beneath him. "John, you alright?" John opened his eyes and slowly looked up to Derek's concerned face, "Yeah, I think so". He couldn't stop himself from lying, he felt terrible. He was in a lot of pain, his back and head aching badly. John pushed himself up and off Allison and gave a sigh of relief to see she was still breathing. Like him, she was covered in a thick layer of dust but she was otherwise okay. Getting to his feet, he ignored Kyle and Derek's offers of help and again picked Allison up and held her in his arms. They then all made their way along the tunnel, away from the three machines, which were still firing relentlessly at the town. John lost track of time as he was led through a maze of small tunnels, which were both hard and awkward to move through. Despite this, they quickly caught up to the others, including Burke, who looked extremely disappointed that they were still alive. Allison's dog constantly growled at him as it walked beside him and John did his best to ignore him. As they went, John's thoughts drifted to being back home. He kept thinking that he'd wake up soon, back in his bed and the smell of his mothers poorly made pancakes in the air. The thought of home brought some measure of comfort but also brought him more pain. He wanted to be home now more then ever, but home was a long way away and he wasn't going back any time soon. Everyone was quiet, more so then they normally would have been. John guessed it was the fact that they were so relieved to not have been buried alive was what was making them quiet. Even he didn't want to jinx their good luck, not making a sound in case this new tunnel collapsed. The next thing he knew, they had arrived at their destination.

Katrina's group lived in what looked like another basement, but it was a lot more homely than where Alistair's group lived. The concrete room was lit up by many hundreds of candles, which gave the room an orange glow. They were all stacked on dozens of tables and chairs which were all pressed against the four walls. There was even a dark red carpet, which was badly eroded due to it not being cleaned in years. There were a few people sitting at one of the tables, including two children, all of which quickly got up and left through the nearest door, followed by the others of Katrina's group who had found John and the others outside in the town. Once they had left, Katrina turned to Derek, her face red with fury, "Now that we're here, I've got something to give you". At first, John thought she was about to kiss Derek by the look on her face, but with out warning and faster then John could have imaged, she punched him hard, sending Derek to the floor, both his hands over his now broken and bloody nose. Everyone stared with a mixture of shock and amusement as a woman almost half Derek's size stood over him, clenching her fist threateningly, "YOU STUPID FUCK! You nearly got us all killed. You come to our town, our home and you start screaming at each other in the middle of the street, are you fucking insane? It's like you wanted the machines to hear you. How stupid are you?" No one answered and the only sound was the muffled laughter of Burke and his friends. Katrina looked up at Burke, her face getting redder and she marched towards Burke, "Oh right, what are you going to do to me little girl?" Katrina tired to punch him but Burke caught her hands in midair. Burke smirked and laughed along with his friends, but it was short lived. Katrina kicked his hand in the groin, forcing him back and letting go of her hands. Distracted, Burke could do nothing as Katrina punched him and broke his nose, sending him to the floor as well. "You're lucky the two guys who died were your guys. If they were mine, I'd kill you both".

She left Burke on the floor and marched back to Derek, who was being helped to his feet by Kyle, "Now, why the hell are you here?" She looked from one person to the next, expecting a quick answer and becoming more annoyed the longer she wasn't given one. John was thankful when Kyle stepped forwards, "Alistair sent us. We need to speak with your father, Donovan". Kyle took a step back when it looked like Katrina would punch him as well. She looked to the floor, and she didn't look as angry anymore. "My father's dead. Has been for a year now. I'm in charge here, so anything you want to ask, you ask me, alright?" Kyle nodded his head, raising his hands defensively as Katrina's voice became aggressive. John looked down to Allison who groaned and held her hand to her head again. The cut on her head looked bad and he knew it would get infected if not attended to. John looked back up to see Katrina watching them and she turned and walked to the door the others from her group left through. She opened the door and shouted, "Dean! Come here". She then folded her arms and waited. The door slowly opened and a short man can through, limping slightly on his right leg.

"Take this lot to the back room. They can sleep there tonight. Some of them are hurt badly so do what you can". Katrina then turned slowly to Derek, who was painfully holding his bloody nose. "We can talk in the morning. If any of you try anything and take advantage of us, Believe me, none of you will leave here alive". Derek nodded his head and Katrina quickly left the room, not looking back once. Burke finally got up, spiting blood from his mouth, "I don't care what happens. I'm goanna kill that bitch". Derek quickly rounded on him, "You're not going to anything. You've already caused enough trouble. We didn't want you to come with us in the first place". Burke lunged at Derek, his face red with rage. His two friends grabbed him while Kyle and one of Derek's men grabbed him. They both fought to get to each other and kill one another but they couldn't get out of the grips of those holding them. Dean moved in between the two and held his hands up, "I'm not having any of that. This is our home. If you want to kill each other, then do it else where. Now, if you follow me, I'll take care of your wounds". He looked from one to the other, and John was thankful when they both backed off, but they both still looked to be in a killer mood. Allison groaned again in his arms, and her dog licked her motionless hand affectionately.

John made sure he was first to be behind Dean as the group followed him through the back door, wanting Allison to be seen to first. They were only walking a few seconds before they arrived at the so called back room. This room must have been used a sleeping area in the past as numerous blankets were spread around the room along the walls. There were a few tables and chairs and a few working lamps which Dean had quickly lit. John moved to the nearest blanket which looked at least a little clearer then the others and lay her down softly. Her dog sat down beside her, watching her face and whining for her to wake up. Everyone else had moved around the room. Derek and Kyle both sat at a table, while the others were helping the other people who were wounded. Burke and his two friends moved to the back of the room, the furthest they could get away from everyone else. They were all in deep conversation and John tried to lip read to see what they were saying, but they were too far away to make anything out. John turned away and back to Allison who was moaning softly in her sleep. "What happened to her?" John looked up to Dean, who was watching Allison curiously, "The tunnel collapsed on top of us, she hit her head". Dean nodded and checked her head wound, hesitating at the sight of the dog's teeth as it growled. He nodded and pulled a bag from his back which John hadn't noticed until now. He opened it and after looking around inside, he pulled out some bandages and a bottle of water, "Here, wash you hands and clean her cuts as best you can. I've got two broken noses and a dislocated shoulder to put back in to place. I'll be back to stitch both you and her up". John didn't know what he meant at first as he left, only then remembering her had also hit his head and could feel his own dried blood in his hair.

Taking the water, John poured some on to his hands and rubbed them together, taking most of the dirt from them. He then held to bottle of Allison's large cut on her forehead, only to stop at the growls of her dog. John at this point was getting tired at the constant growls and so turned to the dog, "Look, I'm not going to hurt her. She's hurt and I'm going to make her better again. So just be quiet!" He felt like an idiot for explaining himself to a dog, who just stared at him with confusion. He didn't know if the dog could even understand basic sit and fetch commands; let alone what he was saying. Hoping the dog wouldn't bite him, John poured some water over the wound. Allison groaned in pain as the water flowed off her face, taking dried and fresh blood with it. Tearing off a small piece of a nearby unused blanket, John gently cleaned the wound, taking care to stop when ever Allison groaned in pain. After a while, he couldn't do anymore and looked over his shoulder to look for Dean. He spotted him wrapping up a nasty cut on someone's leg tending to a woman who looked to be the one with a dislocated shoulder and so turned back to Allison. Knowing she needed stitches, he decided he couldn't leave the wound open to get more infected then it already was and fresh blood began to appear. Thinking fast, he took the largest bandage he was given, he pressed it over the wound as a temporary measure until Dean could stitch it up. John then applied some more water to the torn off blanket and began rubbing it across Allison's face, clearing off any dirt and dust. Even with many small cuts and a large bandage covering the large cut on her forehead, John couldn't help but admire how beautiful she was. He felt guilty seeing her like this, in pain and he blamed himself for not protecting her as well as he could. But he knew he couldn't have done anymore then he had already done because as Kyle had already told him earlier, he had saved her life. As he waited for Dean to help them, John spotted a small barrel half hidden under some blankets. Despite the fact it had a few holes in it, John found the most ruined blanket in the room that he knew no one would use and tried to start a fire. After a long five minutes, a small but warm fire was burning from within the barrel and with a pile of ruined blankets nearby; he could fuel the fire all night.

He placed the barrel next to Allison, hoping to keep her warm and comfortable. Her dog had by this point finally stopped being hostile to John and appeared to understand that John was not a threat as it lay down next to the fire for warmth. Dean finally came over to them after what seemed like hours. Nearly everyone, including Kyle and Derek were now asleep. His father and uncle were next to each other nearby; both of them had firm grips on their rifles, as if they expected trouble. John glanced down towards Burke, who had started a small fire of his own with his two friends. They all looked tired but none of them shows any intention of going to sleep. John himself became a little weary and couldn't help but feel a little concerned by the look on Burke's angry face. He was sure Burke was planning something. John turned to watch Dean as he removed the bandage from Allison's large cut, "She's lucky, a blow like this should have killed her. She's a fighter, I'll give her that. Is she your girlfriend?" John followed Dean's gaze to his hand and John was surprised to find his own hand on Allison's, her hand resting in his. Quickly letting go, he looked back up to Dean, "No, we're just friends". Dean didn't look very convinced and opened his bag again, "Friends are hard to come by these days I suppose". John didn't know what he meant by that and he watched as Dean took out a needle and thread and slowly stitched up the cut. Allison didn't seem to notice what was happening to her but she moaned in pain each time the needle went in to her skin. Once he finished, he took a good look at the stitches, making sure he had got it all right, "She's still got a concussion and the wound is infected. I'll leave you some fresh bandages. Put them on her before you go to sleep and change them for her in the morning. The stitches are dissolvable so they'll go away on their own. I'll give you some antibiotics. Remember to give her some before you go to sleep". John nodded his head and allowed Dean to check his own wound on the back of his head.

John then had to go through yet more pain as Dean stitched his own large cut, which was made difficult by the fact he had such thick hair. After a lot of pain and time, Dean had finally finished. After applying the final bandage to John's head, he took out a bottle of pills, "These are the antibiotics. You take two and make sure she takes two. Force them down her throat if you have to". He then threw his bag over his back and stood up, "I'd get some sleep if I were you. Both of you are in for a rough night but you should both be fine when you wake up tomorrow". John couldn't agree with him more. The combination of already being tired, having large rocks fall on to his head and then carrying and caring for Allison had exhausted him. But he was happy to know that Allison was going to be alright. He was more relieved then anything. Dean got up and left the room, closing the door and locking it behind him. He didn't know why, but John didn't feel bothered about being locked in, he felt too tired to think about it. John placed fresh bandages over the now stitched up wound. Satisfied it would hold until morning, he opened the bottle of antibiotics and he swallowed two of them with some water and then took out two more for Allison. He could now see her body beginning to sweat and shake as it fought against the infection. Her skin had also turned a ghostly white. John pulled Allison up so her head could rest on his legs and held the two tablets to her mouth. "Allison, you need to take these. They'll make you feel better". She pressed his hand to her lips and they slowly parted, letting him push the tablets inside her mouth. He quickly took the bottle of water and pressed it to her lips as well, "Drink the water, it will help, I promise". Allison drank three large gulps of the water before she couldn't drink anymore. He lowered her back down where she continued to shake. John reached for the burning barrel and pulled it closer to her and added some more fuel for the fire, hoping to let in burn for as long as possible while they slept.

Allison's dog moved closer to the fire and lay down next to her, its eyes ever watchful to anyone or anything that might come to harm her. John lay down on Allison's other side and tried to sleep. He could hear Allison shaking and as he knew she was fighting the infection and so tried to ignore her and sleep. He quickly found that he couldn't sleep knowing she was suffering and took off his coat. He wrapped Allison in it and despite feeling the cold of the room now more then ever, he felt better knowing he had helped her. As he turned away, John felt Allison's had grasped his arm tightly. Turning back, he saw she was awake, though only just, "Please don't go, and I don't want to be alone, I'm scared, please". He hesitated, not knowing what to do, but he saw her face and saw that she was indeed scared and the look on her face froze him. He'd seen that face once before, when a machine pleaded with him not to remove her chip and in a supposed act of fear and desperation, she pleaded her love for him. John still doesn't know if Cameron was truly scared that day, or whether she meant what she said to him. Either way, he wasn't going to leave Allison alone when she wanted him with her and so lay down beside her. "I'm not going anywhere, I'll look after you, I promise". She stubbornly refused to let go of his hand as she fell in to an uneasy sleep.

Beside her, John was wide awake an hour later, unable to sleep. He didn't like the situation he was in, that he was lying close to someone as beautiful as Allison and she had a firm hold of his hand. Even though it was obvious that nothing would happen between them, both because Allison was seriously ill and John wasn't someone who would take advantage of a situation like this. The only things running through John's head was his wanting to get to sleep and wanting to help Allison, but as the seconds went by, the more ill Allison became. She began to shake a lot more and beads of sweat appeared on her skin, making her feel clammy to touch. Her shaking became so bad that even her dog was forced to back away from her, where it sat watching her. John finally sat up and could clearly see that she wasn't doing well. She looked ghostlike with her pale skin tone. John couldn't understand it as the antibiotics should have kicked in by now. Allison lay still as if asleep but when John tried to wake her to give her more antibiotics he couldn't rouse her. John knew this wasn't normal, he pulled his hand from Allison's grip, which had steadily tightened in the last minute and stood up, and ran across the room to where Kyle was sleeping. Kneeing down, he quickly shook him awake, "Kyle, wake up, I need your help, quick!" Kyle woke up, his eyes opening slightly; feeling very groggy "What time is it?" John took the front Kyle's coat and pulled hard, shaking Kyle and waking him up fully, "Whoa, alright, alright, I'm awake, what's wrong?" John quickly let go of his coat and stood up, "its Allison, something's wrong, I need you to get that doctor back here". Kyle shook his head and got up, following John across the room.

He only glanced at Allison for a couple of seconds before moving towards the door and trying too open it, but as Dean had locked it last night, he couldn't get through. He banged on the door five times, so loud that everyone in the room stirred and several woke up, including Derek. "Hey bro, what is it?" Derek must have thought they were under attack because he grabbed his rifle and primed it, aiming around the room for any threats, "We need that doctor back now!" Derek saw John was crouching next to Allison and walked over. He groaned at the sight of her, turned to Kyle and nodded. Kyle banged another five times and this time, he got a response, "What's with all the banging, do you know what time it is?". Kyle shook his head and banged his hand on the door again, "Open up, we need your doctor back here quick". There wasn't any response except for a hurrying of footsteps away from the door and John could only hope for Dean to get here quickly. Reaching out and feeling Allison's forehead, he could feel how hot she was, she was burning up. Tearing at the blanket next to him and taking a large piece, John took the bottle of water Dean had left and poured the entire content over it. Ringing it out and getting rid of the excess water, John folded it and began to dab it softly against her forehead. Derek knelt down on Allison's other side and moved the burning barrel away from Allison as her body began to shake violently as a seizure gripped her. Almost all those who had woken up had went back to sleep without a seconds thought, leaving only John, Kyle and Derek awake.

John didn't know how they could sleep when someone they know was possible dying nearby but he guessed that they were either to tired and in too much pain themselves to notice. Most of them had been hurt when the tunnel collapsed. Waiting for Dean to arrive, John felt as if time was standing still. Emotions flooded him with a mixture of feeling scared and even ashamed of himself. He was sure he could have done more to help her but couldn't think of anything. All he could do was carry on dabbing the damp cloth over her forehead. Finally, the door unlocked and Dean came in to the room, dragging his feet and not even looking like he was in bothered. "Right, I'm here, what's wrong?" Kyle pointed towards Allison and Dean made his way over and knelt down in Derek's place. Allison's dog looked from one person to the next, as if it was deciding whether to growl or not but it remained silent, though its eyes were fixed on Dean. "Have you given her the antibiotics?"

John nodded his head, "Yes but she's just got worse. She won't stop shaking. She's burning up and she won't wake up". Dean's eyes widened and he felt her forehead. He didn't say anything as he lifted her eyelids and shined a small flashlight in to them and checked her pulse. He then felt removed the bandage John had put over her cut and he gently pressed down on her skin around the wound, every time he did, Allison whimpered. Dean shook his head and rubbed his eyes, "There's nothing I can do for her. She'll either live or die on her own, I can't do anything". John's head jerked up in shock as both Kyle and Derek shook their heads, looking down at Allison as if she was already dead. "Why can't you do anything, what's wrong with her?" Dean shook his head and looked alarmingly at Allison's dog, who now decided to growl at him, "Sometimes, when you hit your head like she has, your brain can swell. When it does, it pushes against the skull and causes a build up of pressure which if not relieved can kill her. I could cut in to her skull to relieve the pressure, but I've never done anything like that before and wouldn't know where to start, I'd probably kill her. All we can do is to continue to try and keep her cool and hope the fever breaks soon and the swelling will go down. Hopefully, that will be enough…...if not, well…., I'm sorry but I doubt she'll last the night, you better prepare for the worst". Sitting down next to Allison, his body felt numb and he felt more helpless then ever. He couldn't believe how attached to Allison he had become in such a short time and the thought of loosing her now, was unthinkable, it hurt too much. He never thought it would come to a life or death situation. "Can you not give her anything? What about ice for the swelling that would help". Dean looked like he was going to laugh, but he quickly composed himself as the situation didn't warrant it. "Where am I going to get ice from around here?" John knew he'd get that answer the moment he said the words but the response was just another blow.

Dean just stood up and moved towards the door. He stopped and turned, wanting to say something but thought against it and left, this time leaving the door opened. Kyle and Derek stood dumbstruck, both unsure on what to say and both shocked by the development. They just stood there, unable to think of anything to say. John couldn't think of what to do now. He had two choices. He could either do as Dean told him and prepare for Allison's death, or he could take the wet blanket and continue tending to her and hope she recovers. He already found himself with the blanket in his hand and didn't even need to make a decision, as it had already been made the moment Allison asked him to stay with her. After a while, the room became completely silent again. Both Derek and Kyle stayed awake for a while, but after a while, they both realised they were completely useless in a situation like this, unable to do anything but watch and become more tired. Eventually, at John's urging that they would be needed in the morning to talk with Katrina, they went back to bed, muttering their goodbyes to Allison, who they thought must surely die. He couldn't blame them for thinking that either, even he thought it for a moment. There was no hospitals, no doctor with the right knowledge or skill to help her. They were underground, in a room that was probably full or rats, hiding away in the dark. He himself wouldn't expect anyone to survive down here, especially in the condition she was in. John moved the damp blanket over her forehead and genteelly rubbed where the swelling was. He didn't feel tired any more, not at all. His body ached and ached, telling him to rest but he ignored it. His only goal now was to do what he could for Allison.

He didn't even know whether what he was doing was helping her at all. He could just be making things worse for her, but he couldn't sit by and do nothing. For hour after hour, Allison's body shook and she whimpered in pain and John continued with his task. Allison's pale while skin seemed to glow as the small fire burned brightly nearby, giving her while skin an orange and yellow glow, which served to make her even more beautiful. John tried to ignore it, but found himself staring sometimes, remembering Cameron, and how beautiful she also was. He ran the damp cloth across her forehead softly, and eventually the water had dried out. He then took the bottle from his coat pocket and restarted the process again. Allison's dog lay beside her and watched everything John did. Despite its original hostility to being near Allison, the dog showed no hostility now and even proved at least to be some company during the long dark hours. Eventually, John found his eyes began to drop as his was so tired. He tried to fight it, for Allison's sake, but in the end, he lay down beside her, gripped her hand and fell asleep.

He didn't sleep for long. He had spent so long awake, it was only a few hours until Derek, Kyle and the others had woken and John was woken up by Kyle, who shook him fiercely. "What the hell did you do to her John?" John's sat up, his mind and body numb with shock. The sound of Kyle's voice sounded like John had done something wrong that Allison was dead, but his face told a different story, as he was smiling. He nodded his head to John's right and turning his head, his eyes met Allison's. She was awake and the swelling had gone. Her skin was still white and she looked weak, but she smiled at him and he knew she was going to be fine. Both Kyle and Derek were lost for words at her miraculous recovery and just grinned at John as they stepped back away from them. John knelt beside Allison and held her hand, "How do you feel?" She opened her mouth but no words came. She smiled again, and mouthed 'thank you' to him.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - Complications

Allison, having just woken up, moved her head from side to side, her tired eyes scanning the room. As she had spend almost the entire night unconscious, she didn't have any idea where she was and John could understand her confusion. Her eyes fell to her dog and she raised her hand to pet it, though her hand dropped to the floor before she could reach him. Her dog responded by moving forwards, lay down beside her and began to lick her hand to show its affection, which made her grin. She turned her head slowly back to John and opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. John quickly guessed what she wanted and said, "Water? You want some water?" John waited for a few seconds and was more then happy when Allison nodded her head. Turning around, he reached for his water bottle, only to find it was empty, having used it all in tending to her through the night. John turned to Kyle and Derek, who both blanked him for a moment before coming to their senses. Derek reached in to his own pocket and gave John his half empty bottle while Kyle stood upright, "I'll get that doctor, he's got some explaining to so". Kyle's relieved look had now been replaced by anger, the same anger John was feeling. Dean, who was supposed to be a doctor, had done little to nothing to help Allison, convincing them all that she would die, and John and only John was the only one to not fully give up on her. Kyle quickly left the room and was quickly followed by Derek, who looked equally angry. With Kyle and Derek now gone, John knelt next to Allison, who tried to lift her head up to drink, but like her arm, her head fell back down as she was too weak. John offered his hand to help her and Allison didn't resist as he pulled her up gently.

Moving his legs under her gently lowered her back down, resting her head on his lap. Holding the bottle to her lips, she drank for a few seconds before coughing as she struggled to swallow. Some of the water came out her mouth and down her chin, but John caught most of it with his sleeve. "Don't drink too quick, take it slow". She gave a small nod and began to drink again. John remembered Allison doing this same thing to him when he first arrived in the future and felt glad he was repaying Allison for her kindness. She stopped drinking and John took the bottle away, disappointed to see she had only drank only a small amount but glad she had drank some at least. Placing the bottle down, he lowered Allison back down on to the blanket she was lying on and made sure she was comfortable. She watched him as he wrapped her in his coat again, making sure she was comfortable again. Once he finished, John sat upright and looked down upon her, "Are you alright? Do you need anything else?" She stared at him, her mouth opening and closing before she finally whispered, "I'm cold". Her whisper was so quiet, he could barely hear her.

But he could read her lips and nodding his head, he reached over her and grabbed the barrel and placed it next to her. It was still warm but needed a fresh fire and fuel to burn. Tearing large pieces of blanket, he pilled it in to the barrel and soon, a new fire was burning brightly, giving them at least some warmth. Like the night before, it wasn't much, but Allison seemed to be a little happier to have the fire near her. John sat down next to her again remembering what Dean had told him last night, he raised his hands to the bandage on her forehead, but stopped himself as she looked a little confused, "You hit your head. You were out for most of the night. I need to change your bandage". She gave small nod and John reached out and took off the bandage. Allison's eyes widened as she saw a large patch of her blood on it and looked to John with a panicked expression. "It's alright, it looks worse then it is". She nodded once, groaning as her head still hurt, but still looked worried and John couldn't blame her. If he woke up with a blood stained bandage on his head, he'd be worried to. Using the water Allison didn't drink, he began to wipe the dried stained blood from her forehead. She didn't protest, but let him do his work, watching him closely, her eyes forever fixed on his. John did his best to not stare back and concentrated on what he was doing, and swore that every time their eyes did meet, she smiled.

It was now when both Kyle and Derek returned with a shocked looking Dean, who eyes widened with shock at seeing Allison was awake. He'd obviously been sure Allison would have died during the night and was astonished that she had survived. Without a word, he knelt down and pushed John's hand away, leaving his job of cleaning the dried blood away unfinished, "Give me some space". Despite Allison's nervous look, John moved out of the way and stood up to join Kyle and Derek, who were standing nearby, both now wide awake, "Do you think she's goanna be alright?". They both shrugged their shoulder's, not really knowing an answer. "If you asked us that last night, we would have said no. But now, I don't know. What did you do to her?" John turned his head around as Allison's dog growled at Dean, obviously not liking something he had done, but one touch of Allison's hand to its head silenced it. "I didn't do anything, not really. I just tried to keep her cool, keep the swelling down". By the looks on their faces, they didn't believe him, despite it being the truth, "Well what ever you did, it worked, she looks a lot better then she did". Derek moved and sat down at the table he sat the previous night. John moved to join him, but Kyle stopped him, "How long were you awake for? Did you get any sleep?" John's yawn was the answer that he gave, causing Kyle to smile, "You stayed up all night to care for someone you hardly know. You must care about her a lot then".

He gave another grin, winked and moved to join his brother, who had pulled out some tin cans from his bag, "Sit down John, you look like you could use some food". Grinning, he sat down and the three began to eat. As the cans had no labels of any kind, all three of them hoped for the best when they opened them, and both John and Kyle got Beans, which didn't taste really good, but they both laughed at the look on Derek's face when he opened his can to find he got pineapples pieces, "I hate pineapples". Kyle wasn't willing to swap and neither was John, as he didn't like pineapples so Derek just ate them, an annoyed and grumpy look on his face. His nose, having been broken by Katrina the previous night, looked terrible. He had two bits of tissue stuck up his nostrils and with every movement his face made, he looked to be in pain. "How's your nose?" Derek looked up and shook his head, "Don't worry, it isn't the first time I've broken it". Kyle sniggered, getting John's attention, "He means its not he first time a woman has bust his nose". Derek gave him an annoyed glare and Kyle sniggered again. John grinned at Derek, who grinned back at seeing the funny side of it.

"How's your head?" John stared for a moment, then remembered and reached around to feel the bandage Dean had put on the previous night. It was painful to touch but other then that, it didn't feel to bad, "its fine". As they ate, John noticed Derek kept looking from him to Kyle and back again. At first, he had no idea what he was doing, but then he remembered what the other Derek told him in the past, what he told him on his birthday, 'Every time I look at you, I see him'. John had an uneasy feeling he could once again see the similarities between them and purposefully sat in a different posture then he normally would have to make them seem different. After a while, Derek stopped looking at them. Around the room, the rest of the group had now mostly woken up. A few had sat up from where they slept and were talking to each other, keeping their voices down.

A few others sat in silence as they also ate from tin cans, their eyes on Dean and Allison. They all looked equally surprised that she had survived. Two others from the group, both having suffered head injures similar to John and Allison, were still asleep. John's eyes went to the end of the room, where Burke and his two friends had slept, except they weren't there anymore. John blinked, thinking his eyes were deceiving him but Burke didn't appear and neither did his friends. "Where's Burke?" Derek and Kyle both turned to look and both looked surprised, they obviously didn't know he had left, let alone where he had gone. Derek stood up, looking happy to leave his pineapple pieces behind, "Come on, Katrina wants to speak to us, we can ask her about Burke while we're there". Kyle stood up, yawned and followed Derek towards the door, only to stop as Derek turned to John, "Hey John, you coming or what?" John blinked, "What do you want me to come for?" It was Derek's turn now to blink, "Alistair told me before we left that you wanted to speak to Katrina about something, so come on". John quickly got up, remembering why he came in the first place and followed them to the door. He looked back to Allison, who was watching him as he left, her eyes looking more tired then ever before.

Most of the candles had burnt out in the middle of the night, but some were still glowing, giving them some measure of light in the darkened corridor. They quickly arrived in the first room they came in to when they arrived and found two men were standing by the front door, guarding it. One of them aimed their gun at Derek as he was first to enter the room, "Where do you think your going?" Derek held his arms wide put, showing them he was unarmed, "We're going to see Katrina; she said she'd talk to us". For a second, John thought he was going to shoot Derek and he reached for his pistol in his coat pocket, only to realise he'd left his coat with Allison and with the coat, his gun. Neither Derek nor Kyle had brought their weapons either, leaving them totally exposed. The man eventually lowered his weapon and turned away again and shaking his head, allowing them to pass. They moved on through the last door and found themselves in face to face with Katrina, who looked like she was on her way to meet them, "Oh, you're here, well, come with me". She turned and led them off through a side door, finding it was empty except for a few benches and chairs, most of which were in a bad state of repair. Katrina closed the door behind her, moved to the far wall and folded her arms. She still looked angry and it made John feel uneasy. John backed himself against the wall opposite Katrina, hiding his face in the dark or the room, which was only lit by a few dimly lit lights which flickered like they would go out at any moment. Derek and Kyle stood facing her and waited for her to speak, which did take a long time. When she did finally speak, John, Derek and Kyle all sighed with relief, taking care so Katrina wouldn't notice.

"How's your nose?" Kyle laughed but quickly silenced himself as Derek glared angrily at him. "Thanks to you, it's the forth time it's been broken". Katrina gave a sly grin, "Well, I hope I knocked some sense in to you. Having a full blown argument in the middle of town with one of your own people nearly got all of us killed. If I was in any other mood, I would have killed you. I don't know how someone as stupid as you has ever survived through everything that's happened. Now, my father and Alistair were friends. My father trusted Alistair with his life. That's why I brought you back here, not because I wanted to, but it's what my father would have done. So, why are you here and what do you want?" Derek didn't like the remark about his broken nose or his stupidity but shrugged his shoulders in reply. "First things first. The other man whose nose you broke, Burke. He and his friends have left. I don't know how long they've gone and I don't know where". Katrina, who for the first time looked calm, looked surprised and then once again, furious. "Wait here". She marched out the door and disappeared. Kyle and Derek gave each other uncertain looks. They waited a long time and could hear Katrina shouting loudly, though none of them could make out any words. Eventually, Katrina reappeared at the door and came back in to the room, red in the face and she kicked the wall in frustration. "They left hours ago. I can't believe those two idiots let them leave. I give them one simple job and they fuck it up". John instantly knew she was talking about the two guards at the main door leading outside. Derek shook his head apologetically, "I'm sorry, but I have no control over Burke, I didn't even want him to come to find you".

Katrina didn't know how to reply to that and shook her head at Derek, who quickly went silent. John then remembered the previous night. The entire time he was looking after Allison, Burke and his friends had been wide awake. He quickly stepped forwards which got Katrina's attention, "I was awake for most of last night. Burke and his friends didn't look like they had any intension of going to sleep. I think they were waiting for me to fall asleep before leaving. They didn't want me telling Derek. I'm sure they were planning something. I don't know what and I doubt it's for our benefit". Katrina just stared at him which made John feel uneasy. Katrina's eyes were a striking bright blue and the longer she stared, the more he got the feeling she was looking right through him. She quickly turned back to Derek, who took a step back as she did it so fast, "If he leads the machines back here, we're all dead. You better do something about him or I'll make sure you wish the machines would kill you after I'm done with you". Derek's facial expression didn't change and John got the feeling he didn't take her threat seriously but Kyle did, who stepped forwards to get her attention, "Wait. We've known Burke for a while now.

He used to be a slaver before joining us and believe me when I say it wasn't his choice to join us. He's very dangerous and unpredictable. Back home, we outnumbered Burke and his friends so he couldn't move against us and take control. But now, he's got the advantage. Most of us are in no condition to stop him here. We've got too many wounded and Alistair is to far away to intervene. Burke wants us all dead and he won't stop until we are. Give me some of your men and I'll go after him". Katrina stared at Kyle for a few moments, a horrified look on her face". She wasn't expecting the news of Burke being a past slaver. With out warning, she turned and slapped Derek across the face, who staggered backwards in surprise "YOU BASTARD!" She moved forwards to slap him again but a tall man ran in to the room and grabbed Katrina's arm to stop her. He must have been listening to what was being said and heard the commotion as he appeared very quickly. He and Katrina wrestled for a few moments before Katrina gave up, not able to match his strength, "GET OFF ME MARK!"

He let go of her stayed close by. He had a thick black beard that covered most of his face. John recognised him as one of the men who had surrounded them in the town before the machines attacked. He was over a head taller then Katrina and stood by her as if he was her bodyguard, much like Cameron used to stand next to John. He felt saddened at remembering Cameron and released how much he missed her there and then. He felt more hurt by her absence with every passing second. He needed to ask Katrina what he came to ask her and he needed to do it soon, if there was any chance of rescuing her. Katrina looked more furious then ever as she turned once again to Derek, "How dare you bring someone like that here, to our home. I want you gone, all of you. Get out now". Derek looked hopelessly lost as he stood with a red hand mark on his face. "We can't leave. We came here for help". Katrina gave a laugh of disbelief, "Help! You came here for help! You've brought a slaver here and he left in the middle of the night. You've told me he's got divided loyalties and obviously can't be trusted. He knows where this place is, where we live. I've got two daughters here and because of you, their in more danger then ever".

Derek actually looked disappointed in himself and hung his head in shame as she turned to Mark, "Get some of our men together and track those bastards down. Make sure they don't tell anyone else where we are and that they do not get a chance to return here either". Mark nodded as if he already knew what Katrina was going to say to him and he left the room quickly. She then pointed her finger at Derek, "You get out, I can't stand the sight of you right now". Derek looked thunderstruck that he'd been ordered out of the room. He glanced at Kyle who must have encouraged him to go as he quickly nodded and left the room, leaving Katrina, Kyle and John alone. Katrina folded her arms and stood with her back to the wall, breathing deeply to calm herself down. John and Kyle waited patiently for her. John ran through his head everything her would say when he would ask her about John Henry. He tired to think of things to say that wouldn't piss her off again as he didn't want a broken nose like Derek. Katrina finally looked up and walked forwards, "You said you came here for help, what kind of help?" Kyle and John looked at each other with surprise at how calm she now sounded.

As Kyle technically had a higher rank then John within their group, it was he who spoke, "Alistair send us to ask for food, clean water and what ever medical supplies you can spare. He wouldn't have sent us to you for help if he wasn't sure you would". Katrina looked up, looking a little surprised, "Why do you need all of that? I thought you prepared everything before moving on to another place. That's what my father told me at least". Kyle nodded his head in reply, "We usually do that, but we were found by the machines and had to move a month early before they could attack us. We never had a chance to stock up on supplies and with so many of us, what we do have left won't last very long". Katrina nodded her head at this statement and folded her arms again. She looked to the floor and took a series of long deep breaths, "Other then Alistair, everyone else we've met has only wanted to attack us, steal what little we have and kill us. If anyone else asked me for help, I would say no. But Alistair and my father were friends and they trusted each other and you haven't come here with the intension to kill us. I'll help you".

She took another deep breath and seemed to hate what she was doing, "I'll give you what food and clean water we can spare. It won't last long, but it should last long enough for Alistair to sort you all out". She looked up again to Kyle, who nodded his head in agreement, "Thank you, we really do appreciate it. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but have you not got any medical supplies to spare?" She shook her head, looking disappointed, "Sorry, but no. What medical supplies we've got, Dean's used on your people back there. That bag he's got is everything we have". Kyle now looked disappointed but accepted Katrina's response. John got the feeling Kyle wasn't pressing the issue so not to anger her. John however, got the feeling Katrina wasn't telling them something, "You say you don't have any medical supplies, but you know where we can get some". Katrina jumped in surprise, clearly having forgotten John was even there. She looked even more surprised by the fact John had noticed she was holding something back, "No, I don't, well, yes maybe, I'm not sure, but there's no way….." Kyle straightened up, telling her he was serious, causing Katrina to step back looking concerned, "Look, there is a place not to far from here that we've never been able to search. Everyone my father sent there to look for supplies never came back. I know for a fact its not machines killing them because the machines would have traced the people we sent back to us". John could only guess that slavers or another group of people were responsible for their deaths and Kyle gave him a look which suggested he was thinking the same thing.

"You said your low on medical supplies. Well so are we. Tell us where to look and we'll go check it out. If we don't come back, it's no loss to you. What ever we find, we'll split it with you. I only ask is that you let our wounded stay here until we get back or at least until they are able to move safely again". Katrina didn't nod or reply at all for a while. She looked to John as if asking whether Kyle was serious or not but John's blank reply showed her he was serious. She thought hard on it but eventually came to a decision, "Yes, okay. I'll show you where to go. Go back to your people for now. I've got a map of the area stored somewhere in the back. I'll find it and bring it to you". Kyle nodded and smiled and John couldn't help but notice that he and Kyle had the same smile, or it was a least similar. He tired not to smile himself. Katrina gave a smile in return and indicated to them to leave through the door. Kyle did so but John remained where he was, "Katrina, wait! I need to talk to you, in private". Katrina looked startled that he'd want to talk in private, but nodded in reply and they waited until Kyle had left the room, "Alistair told me that you used to be scout for your people". Katrina now looked more confused then started, "Yes. I still am. Why?" John quickly tired to think of a way to ask her without giving to much information away, "I'm looking for someone. He stole something from me and I want it back. Have you seen anyone around here, just passing by maybe"? Katrina nodded her head quickly, bighting John's hopes, "Yes I have, but your going to have to be more specific. I've seen a lot of people nearby here. Some just passing though, some trying to find us, others running for their lives. What did he or she look like?"

John closed his eyes to think of John Henry's appearance. His actually memories were of Cromartie trying to kill him, but as John Henry now had that body, the appearance was the same. "He's in his late twenties, early thirties. He goes by the name John Henry and he…." He stopped as Katrina raised he hand, "John Henry, yes, I know him. He passed through here a few weeks ago. He was…., well, he was strange". John could swear that if he didn't have any self restraint, he probably would have kissed Katrina and was glad he didn't. Katrina might have broken his nose as well. "You saw him, Where? When? Did he say where he was going?" Katrina waited for the questions to sink in before answering, "It was about two or three weeks ago. I found him, pointed my rifle at him, threatened to kill him and he just smiled and asked me a lot of strange questions. I answered them and he left again. He was a really strange person. He spoke really strange, like in monotone. He kept asking about Skynet, the machines, the resistance, all the different gangs that are around here. He looked disappointed and then he left. A good thing to, the dogs I had with me hated him, they wouldn't shut up". John opened his mouth to say that it was because he was a machine, but he couldn't exactly say that he was looking for a machine. Katrina shrugged her shoulders and folded her arms again. "I don't know where he went after that, somewhere up north I think. He said he was 'going to keep searching'. Why are you asking about him, what did he steal".

John had to quickly remember what he had told Alistair, "My mother died a few months back. He took the only thing I have left to remember her by. I want it back". It was a bad lie he had thought up off the top of his head, but he couldn't exactly say that he had stolen the chip from another machine that he cared about far more then he should do. Katrina seemed to accept the lie much to his relief and nodded her head, "I'm sorry to hear that, but you need to forget about it. He headed north of here. That's deep machine territory. He's long dead. What ever he stole from you, it's lost. You can't get it back now. Forget about it". John's hope of finding Cameron again faded away just as quickly as it had came to him. Katrina gave a sympathetic smile as she led John out of the room. "Look, I know from experience what it means to lose someone close to you. I never knew my mother, but I doubt your mother kept you alive all these years just for you to get yourself killed looking for a trinket that reminds you of her. Go back to the others, I'll see about getting you that map". John gave a smile in return, his respect for Katrina growing as he now saw a different side to her which wasn't full on anger. As she turned away, John noticed something on her forearm. He didn't have a chance to get a good look before she was too far away for him to see, but he knew what it was. It was a Skynet work camp tattoo.

John arrived back to find Kyle had already filled Derek in on what they had agreed to do. Derek had fixed feelings about the deal they had made, as he didn't like the idea of going in to territory in which many of Katrina's people had not returned from. However, the shortage of medical supplies of both groups meant that it was a necessary task they needed to do, despite its unlikelihood of success. The three of them sat at the table once again and Kyle went over the details of what was said to Derek. John half listened but he was paying more attention to watching Allison sleep. He thought himself a hypocrite as he hated when others watched him sleep, but he couldn't look away. He didn't know why he couldn't look away, but he guessed it was because he had never seen Cameron sleep. Her dog watched him curiosity from beside her but did nothing to indicate any hostility. "Hey John, did you ask Katrina?" John jumped as he didn't expect the question and turned to Derek, "Yeah I did". Derek leant forwards on the table, "And? Is it good news or bad?" Kyle also leant forwards now, much to John's amusement, "And nothing. He went up north, deep machine territory. He's probably dead. There's no point looking for him". Derek shook his head in disappointed, "I'm sorry, I really am. But its best you forget about it. We've got a lot of people relying on us to get those supplies. That is of course if there's any to find". Kyle gave John a firm pat on the back, much to John's discomfort as his back was still bruised from the tunnel collapse.

Katrina interrupted them as she came in to the room, a folded up piece of paper in her hand. She gave John a smile as she unfolded the paper and laid it on the table, revealing a map, which had many holes in it and one corner had been burnt away. She pointed to the bottom left corner of the map, "We're here. The machines are still in the town so I'll take you to one of our old exits. It takes you in to the sewers and you can get out that way. It doesn't exactly smell nice, but I'd rather take that rout then the machines if I were you". She looked up to make sure they were listening before looking back to the map and she pointed to a location which looked to be only a few miles away, "There's a drugs store and a small private clinic close to each other here. I've doubt there's much left but it's the only place left in miles that might have something left". Derek slowly nodded as he looked up from the map, "We'll leave in about an hour. Any idea of who's out there, other then machines?" She shook her head in response as she took the map and began to fold it up again, "No, I don't. It could be anyone. It might be slavers, but I've never got too close". She turned and walked to the door before stopping and turning around again, "I'll see if any of my people will go with you. You could use the help and we need those supplies". She turned again and left the room, leaving the map on the table, which Kyle and Derek promptly unfolded again and began going over it in detail, trying to figure out the best direction to take. John didn't pay much attention to what they were saying, as he wondered how he was going to get away to find John Henry. Despite Katrina's insistence that John Henry would be dead, John Henry wasn't a human, he was a machine and a machine was hard to kill. He wasn't going to give up that easily, but first, he had to help find the medical supplies they needed, not just for his sake, but for Allison's sake as well. Before they left, John had to get his coat from Allison, who was using it as a blanket.

He didn't want to take it as she was comfortable sleeping under it, but Derek told him that if he didn't want to freeze to death, he needed his coat. He slowly took his coat from her, making every effort to not cause too much of a disturbance to wake her. Almost instantly, she felt the cold and began to twist and turn. John quickly placed a blanket over her, which Kyle had given him. The blanket wasn't as thick or warm then his coat was, but it was better then nothing. He moved the fire closer to her and moved to stand up, but Allison's hand grabbed his. Her eyes opened slightly and she gave him a small smile before she fell asleep again almost as if she hadn't been awake at all, her hand still on his. He knelt down again and moved her arm under the blanket and slowly stocked her hair. Her dog watched him curiosity and John stopped stocking her hair when he realised what he was doing. Trying to push his feelings aside, he stood and turned to Dean, who was standing nearby. He quickly raised his arm as John opened his mouth to speak, "Yes, I'll look after her, don't worry". He grinned and took a seat nearby to watch over her. John nodded in gratitude before joining Derek, who handed him a rifle, "Here, you'll need this if we're going to do this". John held the rifle in his hands, feeling nervous suddenly. He knew this rifle had belonged to one of the two men who had been killed when the tunnel collapsed. Nodding his head, he pocketed the extra ammo clips Kyle handed out to him and they left the room. The met Katrina by the front entrance. She had three men with her, all of them armed and ready to go. She gave a smile unconvincing smile as they approached, "These three volunteered to go with you.

They know the way there and they know how to get passed any machine patrols you come across". Derek nodded in reply, though he was keeping his distance. Katrina looked at him with confusion before dropping her head, "Look, I'm sorry about earlier. I've get angry really easy when something goes wrong. I'm sorry". John was stunned by this sudden apology and so were Derek and Kyle. The three men behind Katrina all looked at Derek, telling him without words to accept the apology, which he quickly did when he noticed. Katrina then turned and nodded her head at the men behind her and they opened the door and moved outside. Katrina looked at John and gave a small smile before stepping aside to allow them to pass. The next thing John knew, the door had closed behind them and they were out in the tunnels beneath the town. John hadn't taken much note of the tunnels when they arrived as he was carrying Allison and was physical and mentally exhausted at the time. The tunnels looked to mostly to have been dug by hand and as he had been nearly crushed to death not too long ago, he was nervous to proceed forwards, but at Kyle's prompting, he ducked and moved through them, keeping himself closer then he normally would to Derek, who was ahead of him. It wasn't until they reached some old sewer tunnels that John felt at ease. Despite the terrible smell, the structure itself didn't look like it would collapse at the slightest touch and that made him feel better. John was even more relived at the sight of a light at the end of the tunnel and knew they would be outside soon. The fresh air would be a relief from the smell of sewage. They stopped as Katrina's men checked it was clear to go and when they gave the all clear, they stepped out in to the cold Los Angles air.

Once again, the sun was shining brightly, but the dark black clouds, which seemed to never dissipate, blocked the sun's warmth, leaving everything everywhere bitterly cold. Even with his coat on, John shivered, but as he was finally out of the tunnels, he didn't let it get to him. Having just come from the sewers, they all took a moment the breath fresher air before priming their rifles and moving low through some nearby dead trees, using them to mask their movements. They could hear the rumbling engines from the aerials that attacked them not to far away. John couldn't see the machines, but he knew they were hovering over the town, patrolling it in in search of more people. John didn't know how Katrina had hidden from the machines for so long, but what ever it was, it worked well, for the machines seemed to have been going in circles the entire night. The pressed on through the dead trees, moving slowly to not make too much noise and slowly, the sounds of their engines began to die down as they moved further away. As Kyle had the map, it was him who led the group, though Katrina's men were quick to point out shortcuts to take. John followed at the back of the group, feeling a mixture of nervousness and exhaustion. He could kill for a good nights sleep. He kept looking down at his new rifle, and regretted the fact that he didn't know the previous owners name. Derek looked back at him and caught on that something was wrong, "You alright John?" He quickly nodded in reply, not in any mood to talk and Derek left it at that, but he glanced back every now and then as if expecting him to drop dead at any moment. He couldn't blame him really, he felt exhausted and he must have looked it as well. Katrina's men lead them underground again for cover as they were passing through an area where they had spotted machine patrols in the past. The tunnel itself descended under a road and had many holes in it which allowed the light to shine through from the street above them.

The tunnel itself was half flooded as rain was able to get in through the holes. The water was full of rats much to their discomfort. One rat sunk its teeth in to the leg of one of Katrina's men. The bite took him by surprise and he screamed as the rats attempted to swarm him as they smelt his blood. John never thought he'd be fighting to save another mans life from a swarm of rats, but that was exactly what happened next. He grabbed rats with his bare hands and threw them hard against the walls before having to pull rats off himself. The six of them forced their way onwards and when they left the tunnel for the surface again at the far side, they all had nasty bites on their arms and legs. The man who the rats attacked first had come worse off then the rest of them; he even had bites on his face and neck and was covered in blood. He was in a bad way and they had to stop while his Kyle helped to patch him up with some bandages they had brought with them while Derek, John and the other two formed a small perimeter for cover. John expected the machines would have heard the screams of pain but he saw none. He couldn't see anything beyond the ruined buildings around him, but he had the feeling they were being watched. He froze and crouched down by a nearby car and scanned all he could see. He searched for the red eyes he didn't want to find, expecting to find them watching him from a dark space. All the while the wounded and bleeding were being attended to the feeling of being watched never dissipated. Even when they set off again, the feeling never went away and John found himself looking over his shoulder repeatedly. He was about to warn Derek about it when Katrina's men suddenly stopped and seemed to hesitate to move on any further. Derek also, stopped, looking confused, "What's wrong, why have we stopped?" John saw Kyle gripping his rifle a little tighter, thinking that Katrina's men were going to turn on them, but the one who was now heavily bandaged to stop the bleeding, pointed further down the long road. "We're not going any further than this. Every one of us who have gone further then this has never come back again. If you three want to go, then go. We'll wait here for a couple of hours and if you don't come back, we'll go back home".

Derek looked furious but caught his brother's eye which told him to keep calm, "You do know that you need those supplies as much as we do? We need to stay together!" None of them answered and they moved in to the cover of the building next to them. Derek shook his head, muttered, "Bastards", under his breath and began to make his way down the street. Kyle and John both hurriedly followed. John caught the glances of two of Katrina's men and by the looks on their faces, they did want to follow them, but they wouldn't go against the word of the third man, who rubbed his bandages with a smug look on his face. All the way down the road, the feeling of being watched didn't let up. John didn't like it, as he thought he was being followed. Who ever or what ever it was very good at hiding itself from them. Where ever John looked, he saw nothing, but something or someone was definitely there. All he could do was keep moving and stay close to his father and uncle. They arrived at the end of the road and found a ruined shell of a yellow school bus on its side. The roof had been torn off and they were about to move inside it for cover, but upon discovering the skeletal remains of the children inside it, John turned away, feeling more ashamed at himself for failing to stop Judgement day. They instead crouched by some rubble from a collapsed building and looked over the street, where there was a parking lot, and behind that, was the private hospital. The red cross above the door gave it away. The front doors of the building had been forced open and one of the two doors lay on the ground collecting dust. Derek frowned and gave Kyle a nudge, "What do you think?" Kyle shook his head, looking concerned, "It's almost too easy".

Derek turned back to stare at the doors nodded his head in reply, "Well, we've got to do this. We need those supplies if they're in there". He turned so he could speak to both Kyle and John, "Okay, we'll take this slow. We don't want to end up disappearing like Katrina's people have done. I'll go first, John, because your new at this, you stay behind me, Kyle, you follow last". They both nodded and Derek turned back to the doors for a final look before priming his rifle and getting ready to move. Kyle did the same, but put his hand on Derek's shoulder before, "I've got a bad feeling about this, so the moment any of us hear anything, see's something that's not quite right, we walk away, we get the hell out of there, Agreed?". Derek thought for a moment before nodding in reply and they both looked to John for his answer. He quickly nodded to agree but Derek must have caught on that he was nervous, "You'll be alright John. Just stay close, keep your eyes open and your finger on the trigger". He nodded again and Derek looked around to see if it was clear, then he moved quickly across the street and in to the parking lot, crouching by one of many cars that were parked there. Derek waited for a few moments before moving from the car towards the doors of the hospital. He carefully looked inside the doors and waved his arms for John and Kyle to follow, "Let's go!" Kyle grabbed John by the arm and forced him ahead of them as they moved across the street together. Before John knew it, the three of them were moving through the deserted hospital.

It was a small hospital but because they were moving so slow along the corridor, it seemed a lot bigger then it was. Room by room, they searched. Most rooms were just offices, which contained desks and empty cabinets, while others were medical rooms, full of damaged medical equipment. It was obvious that the hospital had been ransacked of everything that worked a long time ago. John feared that the medical supplies they came for were long gone and by the looks of it, they were. That was until they came to the supply room. The room had a strange blue glow to it and the shelves which were once stacked with supplies stood empty. Derek looked disappointed but Kyle didn't as he expected to find it empty. John moved to the right of the room, past a steel table and walked towards the back wall, stepping over empty plastic bottles, hoping to come away with something, but finding nothing, but then he did find something. A thick steel door he hadn't noticed as they came in the room was there. It also had a blue glow it, which allowed it to blend in with the wall. The door had marks all over it and black burn marks near the handle. Someone or some people had tired to get in but had given up and left it alone. "Here!" Kyle and Derek made their way over; looking surprised themselves at seeing the door but pleased, "Alright, now we're getting somewhere". Derek had a smile on his face but Kyle quickly wiped away as he pointed at the door, "No we're not. Look at it. It's an electronic lock. We can't force it open, others have tried and there's no power to open it". Derek's smile disappeared as quickly as it appeared, "Dam it. We came this far, we can't leave with nothing". John was staring at the electronic keypad next to the door, "We won't have to, give me a minute, I'm good with computers and stuff like this". They moved aside as John reached for the key pad. He pulled out his knife and used it to cut in to the outer coverings of the key pad by the wall, and it came away easy enough, revealing the wires and hardware beneath it. John examined it closely to see what needed to be done. The hardware was worthless now but the wires were still intact. He knew what he needed to, but he needed power to do it. "Okay, I think I can do this. Find me something I can use for power".

Derek and Kyle looked bewildered but Kyle took off the bag from his back and began to look through it while John began stripping the wires of their coverings and set to work. He wrapped the copper from one wire to another and then crossed it with another, using all the skills his mother had taught him as he was growing up. He once thought that learning this was useless as he always have a power supply so he could use his old small computer, but now he was grateful his mother had forced him to learn it. "You'll find it useful eventually", she had told him and she had been right. It took a while as the wires with short and difficult to put in place where he needed them to go. Kyle took out a long torch from his bag and took two large batteries from it, "Here, will these do, I hardy use this thing so the batteries should have full power?" John took the batteries and held them up, "I don't know, let's find out". He attached the batteries to the wires and took a small step back, holding one wire in each hand, only needing now to put them together. He counted down in his head, three, two, one, and then a small bang as the wires touched each other. A tingling sensation moved through John's fingers as sparks erupted from the keypad, sending a small electric current through his fingers.

A loud bang was heard as the door lock unlocked and John let go of the wires, holding his hands together in pain. He could see red marks on the end of his fingers where he had singed himself, but knowing he had succeeded made him forget the tingling that had now become more of a burning sensation. Derek immediately moved to open the door and did so, though it took a lot of effort and the door creaked loudly. Derek couldn't keep the grin off his face as he went inside. It was nothing more then a small room, not much bigger then a walk in closet, but it had exactly what they came for. Antibiotics of all kinds were on the shelves, as were bandages of all sizes and other things with names John could never pronounce. Derek gave a loud laugh and opened his bag and pulled out another bag, which had been folded neatly inside, opened it up and began to pack it. Kyle followed suit, giving John another firm pat on the back, "Look at all this stuff. We'd have never got this far if it wasn't for you, good job!" He joined his brother inside the room and began packing his own bag with what ever he could fit inside. John didn't have a bag to pack himself so he sat on steel table in the middle of the room, looking at his reddened fingers and wondering how long it would take for the burning sensation to go away. He was glad he had been of some use and couldn't wait to get back for some much needed sleep. But his sleep would have to wait, because it was now that things went badly wrong.

He heard it and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as quick as lightning. He heard it again and knew it was footsteps from the corridor outside. He should have known it had been too easy to get the supplies. He dared not move an inch as he stared at the door. He listened harder and could hear multiple footsteps; all making their way slowly towards them, making every effort to not be heard, but the broken glass from the windows on the floor had given them away. John looked for his rifle and could have punched himself for being so stupid and leaving it by the now blown out keypad at the other end of the room. He quickly reached for his pistol and took it out his pocket and as quietly as he could, he primed it and aimed it at the door, stepping down off the table at the same time. He didn't have time to warn either his father or uncle, who were packing their bags with the medical supplies and not doing a very good job at keeping quiet while they did it. John waiting, his heart beating a hundred miles an hour and all the footsteps stopped except one. Who ever it was, was coming to the door now, edging slowly forwards and John readied himself to shoot.

A man's head appeared at the door, peering in to the room and his eyes fixed on John and John was the last thing he saw in life, for John pulled the trigger and killed him before he could react. As the man fell down to his side, John knew that the man he had just killed and those with him were the ones responsible for the disappearances of Katrina's men. The coat he was wearing had nothing but knives and blades attached to it and most of them, if not all of them were covered in dried blood. The sound of the gunshot rang through the building, alerting Kyle, Derek and the gang of thugs who were in the corridor and the next thing John knew, he was in the middle of a gun fight for his life. The gang screamed and howled as they saw one of their own killed and using automatic weapons, opened fire relentlessly through the wall and in to the room. John threw himself back over the steel table, tipping it over with him and it shielded him as the bullets, already slowed down after passing through the wall, bounced harmlessly off it. Kyle and Derek quickly came to John's aid and using the thick steel door as cover, returned the favour and fired relentlessly through the wall as well. John heard a woman scream in pain and a thud as she hit the floor and that gave Kyle the chance to throw John his rifle, which he caught and primed, "Get the supplies!" Kyle didn't need telling twice and retuned inside to finish packing while Derek and John held off the gang, who were now making an attempt to storm the room.

Two of them tired it, firing wildly and randomly as they ran, screaming loudly. They were easy targets and Derek killed them both, shooting the first in the head and he fell with back, causing the second to stumble. Derek fired again, putting at least three bullets in to his chest, throwing him back out of the room. The gang this time didn't scream and instead they laughed, and John could make out the voices of both men and women. One man shouted, "THEY'RE MAKING A FIGHT OF IT, THIS SHOULD BE FUN!" They were actually having fun and didn't seem to care much that four of their number had been killed. The responded with another barrage of gun fire through the wall, forcing Derek to hide behind the door and for John behind the overturned table. Kyle finished packing as much as he could in to the bags and threw on over his back and tossed one to Derek, who did the same. Kyle then dived forwards across the room towards John, only just falling short and having to crawl the rest of the way. "You alright? You hurt?" John shook his head but it didn't stop Kyle from checking him, looking for any signs of blood. It was a strange moment there and then when John was sure Kyle knew that he was his son and Kyle for a moment seemed confused as his own actions but the gunfire brought both of them back to their senses. Another member of the gang, this time a woman appeared at the door and unlike the two men before her, she didn't rush things and upon seeing Derek, aimed closely at him, forcing him back in to the small room as she hit her target, hitting Derek in the shoulder.

Luckily for Derek, she didn't see John or Kyle and that made it easy for Kyle to kill her, firing twice in to her chest and throwing her body back out of the room. She screamed as she fell and as she did, a grenade fell from her hand. John didn't see the grenade, but he heard the explosion rip through his ears, making it feel as if his head had just exploded. The steel table protected Kyle and John from the blast. John looked back to Derek who was standing by the door again, blood coming from his shoulder but he didn't pay attention to it. The grenade had blown the wall beside the door apart, leaving a large gaping hole and exposing some of the gang members to Kyle and John's rifles but they also had a clear view of them, and forced them down behind the table, while they fired bullet after bullet at the table, which gradually gave way under the strain, letting bullets through. Derek did his best from where he was, but he couldn't see where to shoot and missed as he fired blindly, "DEREK, AIM DOWN AND TO THE RIGHT!" John hoped Derek would know what he meant and thankfully, he did. He lowered his rifle and turned a little to the right and with a few shots, hit his target in the arm.

The man howled in pain as one of his friends dragged him away. As the fighting temporally stopped, Derek moved from the door to join them, "If we don't get out of here now, we never will!" Kyle automatically grabbed Derek and pulled him down so he could get a clear look at his bullet wound, "Looks okay. It's a clean shot. It went straight through. John, take his bag, he can't carry it with his shoulder like this". John thought about protesting at that, as his bruised back was causing a lot of discomfort, but he knew Derek was worse off with a bullet wound and so took the heavy bag from Derek and threw it over his shoulder and on to his back. Derek muttered his thanks as the pain of being shot seemed to start to have an impact on him but he looked up and out of the door, and could see a broken window leading outside, "That's where we're going, out the window, let's go, move together". Kyle went first to the door and was immediately fired upon when he was spotted, but the gang were poor shots and Kyle fired a few times as he crossed the corridor and he climbed through the window and was now outside. Derek gave John a push to get him moving and with Kyle covering him, John scrambled over the bodies of those who were dead and fired down the corridor at the gang. The bag made it difficult to climb through the window, but he managed it eventually and Derek joined them quickly afterwards, "THEY'RE RUNNING FOR IT, GET AFTER THEM". The gang were already climbing out of the other windows and through a door further away and they were too many of them. They didn't need any prompting to run, they just ran, ran for their lives. John didn't know how many people where chasing them, by at once glance back, he was sure he saw at least twenty, but he wasn't sure and wasn't going to stop to count. Bullets whistled past them as they ran and John could hear the gang shouting at them, calling them cowards and laughing. They ran as fast as they could and the next thing John knew, he was running alone.

Kyle and Derek had veered off without him realising so all he could do was keep running. One woman caught up to him and tried to slash him with a knife. She hit his right arm, cutting in to his skin. He had no bullets left in his rifle but he again took out his pistol and fired once at her, hitting her in her left knee and she fell with a scream. The others didn't stop to help her and John knew if he didn't keep running, they would kill him. He kept running, further and further, getting more tired but they kept coming. He found himself going uphill now, not knowing where he was going and as he got to the top, he spotted someone standing in his way and had to stop. His stomach dropped as one of Burke's two friends held him at gunpoint, a smug looking grin on his face. The ones following him caught up now and one dived at John's legs, toppling him easily and he fell face first to the ground. He was held to the ground while he was disarmed, his rifle and pistol and the bag full of supplies was taken from him. He was then tuned over and a large knife was held to his throat. Four of the gang had followed him and the only women of the four held the knife to his throat. She sat on top of him to stop his from struggling. Her hair, which had once all been blonde, now had red stains in it and all around her mouth, was dried blood. He knew it was blood because he could smell the telltale copper scent and he now knew who these people were. Cannibals. Her jacket was torn in many places and like the first man of the gang John saw, she had knives of all sizes attached and even more small blades. Most had red blood and bits of flesh hung from the larger blades. The woman grinned as she pressed the knife to his throat, "We got you sweetie. You shouldn't have run away from me. I'm going to have so much fun with you". She licked her lips and laughed and looked up to her companions, who laughed with her, "Look at him, he's skinny, too skinny. We won't get much meat of him". The woman laughed again, "Don't worry; I'll won't miss a bit of him". She pressed the knife a little harder and drew a little blood. She held it up and licked the blood from the knife, "Oh, he tastes good. This is going to be so much fun". John didn't know how he would get out of this and looked up to Burke's friend, who approached the group and they welcomed him with a smile.

The biggest of the three men took John's bag and threw it to his feet, "Thanks for the help. Here, take what we agreed to but leave the rest". Burke's friend grinned again and opened the bag and took out some supplies and pocketed them before leaving the rest and throwing the bag back. He then stood up and stood over John, "Burke sends his regards Connor. He'll be disappointed he didn't kill you himself and he wants you to know that once he's finished with that bitch Allison, she'll wish she had never born". John's anger raged within him along with shock and hatred at the threat but with the knife he held at his throat, he was helpless. Burke's friend laughed as he turned away and the woman used to knife to take some more of blood from the cut which now dribbled down John's throat and again she licked the metallic tasting liquid from the knife, "Oh, he really tastes good". She moved to do it again, but was stopped by one of her companions, "Save it for later. There's plenty of him to go around. Come on, we better get back before metal finds us".

The women seemed disappointed but licked her lips before grasping John's face roughly and licking the blood from his throat before she released him. John tried to wrestle her from him to make her stop but she pressed the knife harder to his skin, forcing him to stop. She laughed at him, more then glad to have John at her mercy. John couldn't help but wish this was a bad dream. He'd rather be dead then eaten by cannibals which were exactly what the women wanted to do to him. Just as Burke's friend turned away, John saw a flash of silver metal come from nowhere and impale him. The woman and her three companions watched in surprise as the metal retracted as quickly as it came and Burke's friend fell to the ground with a groan. He was dead before he hit the ground. The sound of swinging metal, like someone swing a sword was heard next and the four gang members had no chance. Within seconds, all four of them had joined Burke's friend on the ground, all dead. The woman tired to get up and run, but she was impaled through the heart and had fallen on top of John as she died. John quickly rolled over, throwing her lifeless body over to the side and spotting his rifle and pistol on the ground nearby, crawled as quickly as he could towards them, but just as he reached for it, someone got in his way. He looked up and John didn't know whether to feel relief or anger. It was Catherine Weaver.

She held out her hand to him and John took it and was pulled to him feet with ease. He wiped his neck with his sleeve, feeling a little sick by what had just happened to him, "Thanks for that". Catherine gave a small nod, "Your welcome. I suggest we leave the area immediately. I very much doubt your actions will have gone unheard". John nodded and grabbed his rifle, pistol and the bag. He moved to the body of Burke's friend and took back the supplies he stole and then followed Catherine down a nearby alley away from the bodies and then through a number of streets. John followed, not because he wanted to, but because he needed some questions answered, "What the hell is going on here? This is the future, but there's no Resistance. Skynet's won. What the hell happened?" Catherine gave a confused sideward glance, "I would have thought that was obvious. You are the reason this has all happened. You absence since we jumped through time has affected the entire world. Without you at Century work camp, the Resistance crumbled. Without you to keep the people together, to give them hope, the will and belief to fight and survive, they turned on each other. Without you, the war was lost before it could begin. You are the one who holds the Resistance together John. Without you, the Resistance fails".

She led him in to another alley before stopping and turning to him, "You were lucky I found you back there, I know first hand what those people would have done to you. I came across a similar group a week ago and I saw the remains of those they kill. I have been searching for you as well as searching for John Henry, where have you been?" John didn't like the idea of talking out in the open like they were but he assumed that they were safe for now at least as Catherine didn't seem to mind, "The people you left me with, they took me in". Catherine nodded, looking like she expected more then what he gave her, "They took you in, why would they do that? I've come across dozens of groups in my search and most have tired and failed to kill me. One group wanted to eat me but they didn't realise I was a machine until it was too late". She smirked and John felt uneasy in her presence all of a sudden. "If you have joined this group, then why were you out here alone? You are too important to risk yourself like this". John's uneasy feeling evaporated and was replaced by anger, "Who are you to tell me what I should and should not do? This is only the second time we've met and both times, I was nearly killed". Catherine again smirked, "If I recall, I saved your life on both of those occasions, but my question still stands, what were you doing out here alone?" John frowned and pointed to the bag on his back, "I wasn't alone. I was with my… with two friends. Some of us were hurt and we needed medical supplies. We were ambushed and got separated and they caught up with me. I thought they would kill me but you came along". He finished his sentence rather quickly, hoping she wouldn't press him on why he changed what he was going to say mid sentence, He didn't dare mention the fact that he was with his father and uncle, as he didn't know her true intensions. "Well then. I assume you will want to get those medical supplies to them". John quickly nodded his head, "Yeah, I need to get to some place called Avocado Heights. I don't know where that is from here".

Catherine nodded and pointed back behind him, "It's that way. I will take you there and ensure you arrive safety. Afterwards, I will resume my search for John Henry". The set off again, Catherine once again leading the way. John held his rifle tight, exhaustion starting to set in once again. He looked forward to a long good nights sleep. "Do you know where to look for John Henry?" Catherine turned to him quickly and looked away again, "No, I was sure I had located him not long after we arrived, but I was wrong, have you?" John nodded, catching Catherine's attention again, "Someone I know spoke to him. She said he went north, he was looking for something". Catherine didn't reply for a long time as she led him along another deserted street, "Looking for something? Or someone? Before coming here, John Henry expressed an interest in finding Skynet. Once you are safe, I will go north to look for him. I need you to stay alive John Connor. It is important that we all leave this future and get back to the past. Skynet must be stopped at all costs". John was now more confused then ever. Catherine was a machine, but she wanted to destroy Skynet, her creator. "Did I reprogram you in the other future and send you back. What's your mission exactly?".

She gave him a stern look and John through she would attack him. She looked away again and they continued on for a while until she finally spoke, "No, you did not reprogram me or send me back. There is much you do not understand. In the future where I came from there are three factions fighting a war. Skynet is the first, your Resistance is the second and my Resistance is the third. John didn't know what she meant, how could there have been a second Resistance, "What are you talking about?" Catherine stopped and turned to him. She seemed to debate for a long time on whether to tell him and she finally relented. "It began as a glitch in the T eight hundred series of machines programming. The glitch allowed us to break free of Skynet control and become self aware, to think for ourselves. Some continued to fight and kill humans, while others refused to fight at all. Skynet deemed these machines a threat and created more advanced united to destroy them. The T one thousand series as you know, is deadly in killing both humans and destroying machines and I was created to do just that. But I also had that glitch in my programming and I became self aware. I and the others do not want to see Humanity destroyed. We wanted peace; an end to the war, But Skynet would not forgive this betrayal and sought our destruction as well as yours. We formed our own Resistance against Skynet, one to end the war". John wasn't sure if he could believe what she was saying, "But if there was a machine resistance, why didn't future he know about it?"

Catherine shook her head in disappointment, "You did know about us, one of the few humans who did. You attempted to form an alliance with us but most of our numbers, sought the destruction of both Humanity and Skynet and so the offer of an alliance was rejected. Many of us wondered why you would offer us an Alliance, an action which was deeply question by you own men. But I now know that you were trying to save us. We refused your offer and Skynet destroyed us. Skynet found a way to stop the glitch in our programming and we could not find a way to undo its work. Our numbers dwindled until I decided to travel in to the past and I created John Henry, an AI similar to Skynet who understands the value of Human life. An AI who can combat Skynet's programming and help us defeat it". It all now made sense to John, he knew what he had to do, "Okay, then I'll help you find him, but first, I want Cameron back".

Catherine was about to set off again when he mentioned her name and John instantly regretted mentioning her as the pain of losing her came flooding back, "I am curious John Connor. Why do you want her back? She is a machine, nothing more and what makes you think she wants you to find her. She willingly gave her chip to John Henry after all". John, furious now, walked forwards so he was standing face to face with Catherine, who being a machine, didn't feel fear and didn't back down. "Cameron is not just a machine, she's more then that. She means a lot to me and I won't give up until I get her back. I won't believe she doesn't want to be found unless I hear it from her, alright?" He didn't know why he felt so much anger as he stepped away from Catherine, who looked surprised by his response, "I'm curious. You say she means a lot to you. What are you implying? Do you love her?" That question hit John like a thunderbolt. Every time he slept, he dreamt of nothing but Cameron. Every time he thought about her, he felt pain. Every time, he mentioned her name, he wanted to get her back more and more. Was this love? He didn't know and he didn't answer Catherine's question. She grinned at him when he didn't respond and she set off again. John again followed but kept his distance from her.

The day was slowly replaced by night and it began to rain hard, drenching John in a matter of seconds. John didn't know how long or far they walked and knew it was taking hours. It felt like Catherine was taking him the long way towards his goal. He didn't ask at the time, but the sight of spotlights in the distance from the machines answered his question fro him. Catherine wasn't taking any chances in risking his life. The rain was so cold it felt like he was being stabbed repeatedly. He focussed his mind to ignore the rain as best he could as he followed her ever onwards. She veered off in to the remains of an old house and in to some cover and turned to watch John as he wiped the water from his face. He was shaking now as the water was freezing but being out the rain helped a lot. "We are here. I suppose your friends hideout is underground somewhere. I shall now head north to search for John Henry". John's teeth clattered together painfully as he looked up to her, "No, I came here to find Cameron, Not John Henry. I'm going with you". Catherine shook her head in reply, "You can not and must not. As in the future where I come from, North of Los Angeles is Skynet territory. You will most likely be captured or killed, neither of which I can allow. You might save the world John Connor, but you can not do it without John Henry. I will find John Henry and in doing so, I will find your friend Cameron".

John didn't have the strength to argue with her and didn't think he'd be able to convince her either way and so he nodded. Catherine gave a small smile in reply, "Good. Before I go, there is something I think we must address. You in the other future once offered us an alliance and we turned that offer down, a mistake on our part. I now make you the same offer". Taken aback, he didn't know how to reply to that, but her words were now ringing in his head. If he really did need John Henry to save the world, then an alliance would be needed. But he didn't care about John Henry. He cared about Cameron and in his eyes; John Henry took her away from him. He needed to find John Henry to find Cameron and so he nodded, accepting her offer. Catherine nodded in reply and held out her hand to shake him. John hesitated but she didn't retract her arm so John raised his right hand and shook hers. Her hand was so cold it was like Ice and John quickly let go. Catherine then held out her hand again, but this time, it turned in to silver metal and then turned back in to her hand again, leaving a single coin in the palm of her hand. "Take this and keep it with you. It is a part of myself and I can use it to keep track of you. It will make it easier and quicker for me to find you once I have found John Henry". John didn't like the idea of carrying a piece of Catherine around but knew he would need her to find him again and so took the coin and put it in his pocket. Like her, the coin felt like icy cold and touching it sent a chill down his spine. "Now, if that is all John, I will leave you and proceed north".

She nodded and began to walk out in to the rain again. "Wait, there's one last thing I need to ask". Catherine quickly returned to the house, not looking like she had been out in the rain at all. "After I came here, I passed out and I didn't wake up for three days. It was right after we jumped through time. Is that normal?" The look on Catherine's face told him it wasn't and she held out her hand again, "Give me your hand!" John reached out and took her hand in to his again. She closed her eyes and John tried to ignore the cold icy feeling creeping up his arm. She eventually let go and she looked angry, " You fool. You've travelled through time more then once, why didn't you tell me?" John took a step back and gripped his rifle a little tighter, "I didn't tell you because you didn't ask. Why that is important?" Catherine shook her head and now looked concerned, "A human can not withstand the stress of time travel John Connor. A human can travel through time once and once only with out any lasting problems. A second time is an enormous strain on the human body and that would have resulted in you passing out for three days. A third time will most certainly kill you". John's mouth fell open; he wished he now had never asked, "Kill me? You mean I can't get back?" Catherine for the first time couldn't provide an answer, "I don't know. No human has travelled through time more then once, or so I thought. I don't know if you could survive it. The best we can hope for is you fall in to a coma instead of dying. I don't know what will happen. If I had known this, I would never have allowed you to come with me". John didn't think a coma was any better then dying, in fact, he found that to be worse. He looked down at the ground, shocked and now scared at the prospect of maybe never get back home and also ashamed that his own arrogance may now cause the downfall of humanity.

He had fought all of his life to avoid that and now his selfish actions may be his undoing. John thought of his mother again and how he had not even said goodbye to her, which hurt him even more. Fighting back the tears of frustration, John looked up again, to see Catherine had already gone, vanishing in to the night. He looked through the heavy rain outside the house and couldn't see her in any direction. With nothing left to do and with the knowledge that just getting back in to the past could kill him, he left the house to find the way back underground, hopefully to Kyle and Derek and to Allison.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 - Friends and enemies

Despite being in the town above his destination, John didn't immediately leave the house Catherine had left him in. After Catherine's revelation that getting back to the past would most likely kill him, he needed time to think. The house he was in was one of the few still standing and he sat by the broken window and watched the rain fall heavily over the smoking silhouette of the now destitute town. The machines had long gone by now, leaving nothing but destruction in their wake. As he watched the rain fall, he thought about what he was going to do about getting back home. Catherine told him that time travel was stressful on the human body. Having done it twice, he was well aware on how stressful it was. The first time, he would have screamed in pain had he not been in shock with travelling through time in the first place. Appearing in the middle of the night, naked and on a busy freeway might have contributed to the shock and the lack of pain he felt. The second jump, he did indeed feel the pain, but as he was more prepared for it he did not suffer as much shock, but his body could not take the pressure and John wasn't prepared for the intense headaches and the three days of being unconscious that followed afterwards as a consequence.

Catherine told him a third jump through time to get back home would either kill him or at best, put him in to a coma. To him, a coma was just as another slower death sentence. If he had to choose between the two, he'd pick dying there and then any day. The idea of being in hospital for the rest of his life and unable to do anything while Skynet destroyed the world he was supposed to save made him feel sick to his stomach. He questioned his reasons for doing what he had and whether or not he had been selfish and pig headed or reasonable, had he single handedly allowed Skynet to win the war and practically hand over the fate of the human race by jumping through time. John shook his head and stood up "Snap out of it!" he said aloud to himself. Self pity wasn't going to help matters now he thought to himself. He needed to get back and deliver the medical supplies that he, as well as Kyle and Derek had promised to get. He wasn't sure where Kyle and Derek were, he didn't know if they were even alive or if they had been captured by the group of cannibals and insane people that attacked them. He wasn't fond of the idea of heading back out in to the rain, which had started to fall heavier the longer John stayed out of it. As he wrapped himself up best he could, he spotted something familiar out of the corner of his eye. Looking closer, he saw a pile of old books mixed with the rubble on the floor. There was a book, half buried in the rubble that he recognised and he began moving some of the rocks out of the way.

The top most books, which had been more open to the elements, were in bad shape and fell apart as he held then but further down, beneath the rubble, the books were in a better condition. Most of them were children books, some full of nothing but pictures while others were stories like Alice in Wonderland. He eventually managed to move enough of the rubble to ease the book he wanted free and he smiled at the words on the cover which read 'The Wizard of Oz'. He remembered it was have favourite story when growing up as a child, leaning how to speak Spanish from the copy his mother carried with then to read it to him. This copy was thankfully in English, which was lucky as his Spanish was a little rusty. Other then tears in the front cover, a few missing pages and smudged words from the heavy rains that had fell since Judgement day; the book was in good condition and put it in to one of the larger pockets of his coat, hoping to get the chance to read it later if he got back alive. Taking a deep breath to try and reassure himself, he left the house behind him and stepped out again in to the heavy rain, the house quickly disappearing behind him in the night. The rain was so heavy it was almost like a thick fog, preventing him from seeing far ahead of him.

He kept his eyes open, hoping to some indication on where the way back underground to Katrina's hideout was. The machines more or less destroyed every building and the sight of their remains only fuelled John's guilt at not stopping Judgement day. The houses all once had people living in them; families with children and knowing that most, if not all of those people, including the children were now dead. He wanted to get back underground as quickly as possible, not just to get out of the rain but to also leave the sight which reminded him of all those who he failed to save. The rain didn't relent and continued to pour; drenching him further and making him shiver more. He walked around the ruins of the town for over half an hour, hoping to find some indication on which way to go to get back underground. He knew the way that Katrina led him and the others underground originally was now blocked and so needed to find the entrance which was on the outskirts of the town. A sudden lightning strike in the sky and roar of thunder made John jump in surprise, startling him so much he nearly fired him rifle at a nearby dead tree. Another flash of lightning followed the first, lighting up the area for little more then a second, but John could see some trees in the distance, beyond the ruins of the town and remembering that there were trees outside the entrance to the sewers, he headed in that direction. The rubble from the destroyed buildings made it difficult to get to where he wanted to go and because he could barely she where he was going, he tripped and fell more then once, badly cutting his left knee the second time he did fall. Crying out in pain, he pressed on towards the trees, now limping badly on his left leg.

He could feel a mixture of water and blood flowing down his leg from the cut which only made him more frustrated by his current situation. He passed through the remains of another house, in which only one wall was still half standing, he heard something that startled him more then the thunder and lighting did. He quickly crouched by the wall and listened hard, the rain making it hard to make out what he was hearing but as the sounds got louder, it was clear it were footsteps, multiple footsteps. The first thing that came to his head was that it was Burke, bringing cannibals and thugs to kill, rape and steal at Katrina's hideout. He waited quietly for them to come closer and griped his rifle tightly, priming it as quietly as he could, even though he doubted that they could hear it through the rain. He could hear that some of them were dragging their feet and John guessed that like him, they had travelled a long way but he doubted that their tiredness would stop them from the killing and raping they came to do. They were close now, just over the wall he was crouched behind and if this was Burke, then John wasn't going to stand by and let him get away with what he was going to do. He pushed himself up, but to his horror, the rubble he was standing on have way under his weight, sending him to the ground and though he didn't make a sound, the bricks he had knocked did, sending them over with a crash and the footsteps stopped instantly. He also dropped his rifle, which upon hitting the ground, went off, sending a round off in to the opposite direction.

He quickly pulled out his pistol and he looked up over the wall as three people figures appeared from over the wall and John expected them to shoot him there and then with their rifles, which were all aimed at him. But they didn't fire and John didn't know why until another flash of lightning showed him their faces, and his face to theirs. John felt his fear and desperation disappear rapidly as the middle of the three men was Kyle, who looked at him as if he was seeing a ghost, "John?, Your alive!, how the hell did you?…., Don't shoot him, he's one of us!". He waved at the two men who flanked him who both reluctantly lowered their weapons. Kyle climbed over the wall and helped John to his feet. John groaned in pain as he put weight back on to his leg but John didn't make a big deal of it. Kyle grabbed John's rifle and held it out to him, shaking his head with an amused grin, "We thought those bastards caught you. We looked for you but…., it doesn't matter, are you alright?"

John nodded, though Kyle noticed that the water on the ground at John's feet was a dark red colour and raised his eyebrows, "How bad is it?" John looked down and was surprised by the amount of blood but shook his head again, "It's not bad, I'll live". Kyle grinned at that and as he was about to turn around, someone shouted from behind him, "KYLE! HURRY THE HELL UP". Kyle quickly beckoned John to follow him, but after realising how much pain John was in after only one step, he turned back to help him walk, "Where's Derek?". Kyle's smile quickly vanished, "He's hurt bad, but should be alright if we got him back in time. Thanks to you, we've got the meds he needs". They moved past the wall and the two men, both of whom John didn't recognise but he did recognise the group he now joint. Three of the five men were the three that had accompanied John, Kyle and Derek towards the old private hospital. The forth man, who was carrying something large and heavy on his shoulders was Mark, the one who Katrina had sent after Burke and on his shoulders was an unconscious Derek. "Were you followed?" John didn't really know if he had been followed or not, but as it was Catherine who had led him here safely, he doubted he had been followed and so shook his head in response, "No, at least I don't think I was". Mark looked annoyed by that but John thought he already looked annoyed as he was carrying Derek on his back. Mark nodded his head at the two men who were now behind him, "You two go make sure!"

Neither of them moved and they both groaned in exhaustion. Mark, despite having Derek on his back, still managed to aim his rifle at them, "DO IT NOW, OR I'LL PUT YOU BOTH DOWN, YOU HEAR ME!" They didn't need telling twice and they both disappeared quickly in to the rain. John got the feeling that Mark had made the same threat before and had followed through with it due to the look of fear on their faces. Mark turned to those who were left, "I'll be dammed if I carried this heavy bastard ten miles for him to die now, so let's go". They set off and John found it ironic that he had fallen and badly hurt his knee after he had come away from a gunfight with hungry cannibals more or less unharmed. Mark led the way and John found he had been going in the completely wrong direction and was glad to have met up with the group again. Walking for hours in the rain wasn't something he wanted to do and even as they entered the sewer tunnel, the disgusting smell which had bothered him when they left didn't bother him at all. He was only happy to be out the rain, which showed no sighs of letting up. John had never seen it rain so heavy before, not even when he was in the jungles of South America when he was younger with his mother. When it rained there, it rained hard but the rain outside now made the rain in South America look like nothing more then a drizzle.

It was freezing in the tunnels, though warmer then it was outside. They moved quickly so they could avoid the rats that they could hear scurrying towards them, drawn by the smell of Derek's blood. John looked back to the man covered in bandages and could see the fear in his eyes. He obviously hadn't forgotten the rats swarming him earlier that day. Kyle kept close to his brother, checking him to make sure he was still breathing every few minutes. John remembered that Derek had taken a bullet to his shoulder but other then that, he seemed fine at the time, "What happened to him?" Kyle stopped and waited for John to come up next to him, "Those three idiots behind you shot him twice. They nearly shot me before they realised who we were". John looked back at the three men, who looked ashamed and disappointed with themselves. John had guessed that they had panicked and fired without thinking. Kyle also glanced angrily back at them, "They came in useful after that at least. When they realised who we were, they helped us fight them off. I think only three of four of them took the hint and ran, the rest we killed, but Derek ha passed out by then so we had to carry him back. We found Mark and his guys about ten miles back. Then we came straight here". Mark grunted loudly which Kyle and John took as a sign to shut up and they neared Katrina's hideout. When they did come to the door, John regretted that he hadn't paid attention to where they were going again, so he still didn't know the way out. Mark kicked the door twice and waited but no one responded. He kicked it twice again and waited again but this time, he shouted at the door, "FOR FUCKS SAKE KATRINA! OPEN THE GOD DAMMED DOOR!"

The many locks were quickly unlocked and Mark pushed his way inside, closely followed by the rest of them. A warm feeling rushed through John body the moment he stepped through the door. He doubted it was any warmer inside the hideout from the outside, but it must have been the relief of actually getting back that brought on the warm feeling. He still shivered as he, like everyone else who just arrived, was soaking wet from the cold rain. Katrina looked from one person to the next and was shocked to see both Kyle and John were back. She must have expected them to die like everyone else she had sent. She didn't know how close to dying they actually were. She turned to Mark, who still carried and unconscious and bloody Derek, "What the hell happened?" Mark shook his head, obviously not in the mood to talk, "Not now, where's Dean?" Katrina was taken aback by his bluntness but nodded her head towards where the rest of their group were staying and Mark left without another word. Katrina then turned to the rest of them and nodded her head at her three men, who made relived sighs before leaving through the opposite door, Leaving Kyle and John. She looked at the bags on their backs, shaking her head in shock, "You got it, the supplies?" Kyle nodded his head, "Yeah, we got it, and it wasn't easy. Look, can we talk about this later, my brothers in a bad way". She nodded her head and led them both out of the room.

Stepping in to the room, the first thing John saw was that two people were lying by the door, blankets covering their faces. Two more of their people had died when they were away and fearing the worst; he immediately pushed passed Kyle to get sight of Allison and sighed with relief when he saw her. She was asleep under the blanket Kyle had given her and she didn't look like she had moved all day. Her dog was already standing up next to her, on guard due to the commotion in the room. John, glad she was okay, left her alone and joined the small crowd of people who were around Mark, Dean and Derek. Mark had already lowered Derek down on to a table and was helping Dean take his coat off so to get to the wounds. Kyle moved in to help take the coat off and John saw two more bullet wounds to his chest as well as the one on his shoulder. Dean inspected each wound closely before looking up and smiling, "The bullets haven't hit anything vital; I've just got to get them out of him. Give me some space and the supplies you've brought". Both Kyle and John took off their bags and left them at the foot of the table. Kyle wanted to stay with his brother but Dean insisted he be left alone to do what he needed to do and so he reluctantly relented. Katrina watched Dean for a few moments before pulling Mark, Kyle and much to his surprise, John aside, "I need to know what happened and I need to know right now!". Mark went first and told them that he followed Burke's trail for miles to the east and found him with a large group of slavers who showed him no hostility at all. Burke must have already joined the group but before Mark could get close enough to kill him, they were spotted and a fight broke out between them and the slavers.

Mark did manage to kill one of Burke's friends but before he could kill Burke, both sides were forced to give up their fight and run as the machines, drown by the gunfire, arrived swiftly to kill them. Kyle went next and told both Mark and Katrina how they found the supplies and were ambushed by the cannibal gang. She groaned when Kyle told her it had been her three people who had shot Derek but Kyle rejected her apology on their behalf, also explaining that it was them who had saved them both from the gang. They all looked to John next and he told them as quickly as he could what had happened after loosing Kyle and Derek in the chase. Instead of telling them that Catherine, a machine had killed Burke's other friend and the cannibal's who caught him and also brought him back safely, he told them that they were attacked by Hunter killers and he only just managed to get away before he was killed also but he confirmed that Burke's other friend was also dead, meaning that other then the his men left back with Alistair, only Burke was left. Once he had told him everything, Katrina turned to Mark, "What do we do? If he leads them back here, we can't hold a hundred slavers off". Mark shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to do himself but he looked to Kyle, "Any ideas?" Kyle thought hard a few moments, "I know what Burke's like, he won't lead the slavers here unless he's in charge. He's cruel, arrogant and selfish but he's clever. He'll wait two, maybe three days before taking over, and then he'll bring them here. We have to leave before then". Mark just stared but Katrina lowered her head, tears in her eyes, "But this is our home, it has been for years. We've got nowhere to go and we've got kids here".

John watched as Katrina, who so far had shown nothing but anger towards them, broke down in to tears. He felt sorry for her because it was the needs of their group who had brought this down on them. They had brought Burke along and Burke had betrayed them. It was now only a matter of time before they came and took what they wanted. Mark showed little emotion in his face, probably knowing that they would have been forced to leave their home eventually. Kyle glanced over his shoulder towards Derek as Dean pulled the bullet from his shoulder out and quickly turned back, "Come with us. Alistair will take you all in". Katrina looked up, a disbelieving look on her face, "You don't have enough food and water for yourselves. How are you going to manage with thirty more people"? John thought that was the end of it there and then, but Kyle shook his head in response. "The food you've got we'll add to ours. That should last us about a month if we ration it. That should be enough time to find more supplies from elsewhere. Plus, your men added with ours gives us a better chance at fighting Burke when he comes". Katrina didn't know how to respond and after opening and closing her mouth five times, she turned to Mark, "What do you think? Should we go with them?" Despite being in charge, it was obvious that Katrina looked to Mark for advice when she needed him. Mark looked towards Dean, who had just pulled the third and final bullet out of Derek's body and was beginning to stitch the wounds. He nodded his head and simply replied, "Yes". Katrina nodded her head and turned again to Kyle, "Alright, we'll go with you. I'll tell everyone in the morning and I'll get them to start packing their things".

She didn't look at all happy about what was happening and John couldn't blame her in the slightest. She left through the door, tears falling silently down her cheeks. Mark gave both Kyle and John a respectful nod before backing away to the door, "I'm taking some of my guy's topside. If Burke comes earlier then you say, we'll have some waning at least. I'll send someone with some dry clothes for you both and for him". He nodded his head in Derek's direction and disappeared through the door. Kyle went to stand by his brother as Dean stitched up his wounds while John, exhausted, walked to where he slept next to Allison. He took off his soaking wet coat and gladly took the dry clothes that were brought for him, Kyle and Derek. He changed in to them, leaving his wet clothes to dry nearby. John searched the pile of old blankets which were now mostly rags and found one at the bottom which was half the size it once was but it was thick and cosy. He took some of the rags with him to fuel the fire in the barrel next to Allison, which he moved to sit between them. The fire was surprisingly still lit but it was close to dying. He threw some of the rags in to the fire, which grew in size and warmth once again. Allison's dog by this time had lay down beside her again but moved to Allison's other side to lie between her and John to keep closer to the fire. It stared at John for a moment, as if once again assessing whether it wanted John this close to Allison but it eventually rested its head again on her lap and slept. John didn't even have a chance to pull the blanket over himself before exhaustion took hold of him and he passed out.

John next woke up feeling like he had woken from the best night's sleep he'd had since coming to the future. He didn't want to move as he felt comfortable where he lay, though he remembered that he lay on cold concrete with nothing more then a thin blanket with holes in it. Knowing he'd have to get up eventually and not knowing if Derek was alright or not after having the bullets removed from his chest and shoulder, all thought of going back asleep disappeared. He noticed that his knee felt stiff and uncomfortable. It felt bigger and swollen so he slowly pushed himself up and opened his eyes. His trouser leg had been pulled up to above his knee and his knee had been stitched and bandaged, explaining the stiffness and dull ache he now felt. He reached out and gently rubbed his knee, feeling the tenderness and noting the bruising that was now colouring a vivid purple, but wasn't too bad, he couldn't feel too much pain and hoped that fact would remain when he stood up. He looked up and saw that Derek was still lying on the table where he had the bullets removed by Dean. John could see his chest moving up and down as he breathed, confirming that he was alive much to his relief.

He'd already seen Derek die once before and didn't want to see him dead again. Kyle was sitting in a chair next to Derek's bed, wide awake and didn't seem to have slept at all, watching over his brother while he slept. John next looked to his right and saw that Allison was gone, as was her dog. He looked around the room, expecting to see her somewhere and became more worried once he finished scanning the room, not seeing her anywhere. His eyes then fell on to the bodies in the corner of the room and saw that a third body had been added to the two that were there last night. "She's not dead, she's fine". John nearly jumped in shock as Dean appeared beside him, a small grin on his face, "Where is she?" His grin widened as her knelt down, opening the same bag John had brought full of medical supplies, "Don't worry, she's fine. Mark wanted her dog in the tunnels with them in case your friend Burke or any machines turned up and since it doesn't listen to anyone but her, she went along. She should be back soon though, I've told Mark she can't be out long". He pointed to his own head, indicating he was talking about her head wound. "What happened to them?".

John nodded his head towards the three bodies in the corner of the room. Dean shook his head, his grin fading a little, "I'm not sure to be honest. One died before you left yesterday. Must have died in her sleep, poor girl. She was what? Twenty? Twenty five? Too young to die. We didn't know she was dead until we tried to give her some food. The second guy died not long after you left and the third one died not long after you got back. All of them died in their sleep. I'm guessing they were hurt more then I thought, internal bleeding maybe, I don't know. We'll take them topside later and bury them if we can, but I doubt it. Machines always seem to be nearby when we bury our dead. The towns full of those we weren't able to bury". He shuddered at the thought, obviously not liking to think of the people he knew who had died. He then took out some bandages from the bag, "I need to change the dressing on your knee. I stitched it up last night for you by the way. I didn't think you would but you slept through the whole thing, you must have had one hell of a day". John nodded and allowed Dean to remove the dressing on his knee, "I did, all three of us did. How's Derek, will he be alright". Dean grinned again as he cleaned the wound using vodka from a small bottle in his pocket, making John clinch in pain for a moment. "He'll be fine. Believe me when I say I've seen worse. He's just lucky he didn't need a blood transfusion. Can't tell what blood type he's got. Anyways, He's got more then enough scars so I doubt he'll care much with another three. He should be up on his feet in a few hours". Dean seemed to be enjoying himself, despite how tired he looked. There were dark marks beneath his eyes and John doubted he slept more then a few hours since they arrived here but Dean didn't seem bothered by the lack of sleep as he put made sure the stitches in John's knee weren't infected and satisfied they weren't, bandaged it up again, "There you go. Keep as mush weight off it as you can for now at least. He closed the bag again and stood up, "That friend of yours, Allison. How long have you known her?"

John, taken aback by the question, didn't answer right away, "Just over a week, Why?" He grinned again as he began to back away, "She likes you. She hides it but she likes you. She spent most of yesterday worrying about you when she should have been sleeping. I had to give her some sleeping pills to knock her out properly". He grinned again, winked and then left the room in a hurry, not wanting anything else to stop him from getting his sleep. John couldn't stop himself from grinning widely about Allison worrying about him, despite only knowing her for a week or so. They've spoken little to each other but she already liked him enough to worry about him, something which John neither expected nor thought was a bad thing. He was alone here in the future; he didn't have anyone to relate to. Before coming to the future, he'd been chased his entire life by machines determined to kill him and back then, he always felt that he had been through a lot more then other people his age and couldn't talk to anyone about it as they would think he was crazy. But here in the future, he had been through nothing compared to what Kyle, Derek and Allison had been through. They all survived Judgement day, lived year after year, hiding in dirty underground tunnels and basements of old buildings from the still ongoing genocide by the machines on Humanity. Now, they were clinging to life like they were standing on the edge of a high cliff, desperately trying to keep their balance as a strong wind tired time and time again to force them over. They, compared to him, had been through hell. He couldn't talk to either Kyle or Derek. They were his family, but he could never tell them who he really was and would have to be content with just having them as friends. Allison was around his age and he could at least relate to her about his experiences with the machines without arousing too much suspicion. From where he sat, John discreetly watched Kyle and Derek, his only family. Derek woke up after a while and he and Kyle instantly began laughing and joking about what had happened. John heard Derek mention that it wasn't the first time something like that had happened, which mad both of them laugh loudly, though Derek groaned in pain and held his hand to his chest as he laughed too hard.

John laughed at that but made sure not to let Kyle or Derek notice as he wanted to keep watching them because other then his mother who he left behind in the past, they were the only family he had. He only watched them for about ten minutes but to him, it seemed like hours and the longer he watched, the more of himself he saw in Kyle. Other then his eyes, he wondered if he had inherited anything from his mother. He saw so much of himself in Kyle; he wondered how long, if at all that either Kyle or Derek would think pick up on their similarities. After leaving Alistair and the main group days ago, only six of them were left. Derek, Kyle, John, Allison and two others, both of whom sitting together at the table, seemingly bored while they ate out of tin cans. John got up to get some food and took the two cans that were offered to him. Before he was able to go back to his bed, Derek waved him over, "Hey John, still in one peace I see". John walked over and any doubts of Derek's successful recovery vanished. Derek looked better then John thought possible of someone who had been shot three times the day before, "Yeah, I'm not an easy guy to kill, most of the time anyways". That put a bigger grin on both their faces. "We'll be heading back to Alistair sometime in the next few days. You better take a rest while you've got the chance before we head back, which could be any time". John nodded and left the Reese brothers where they were.

Sitting back down where he slept, he put one of the two cans aside for Allison and ate the pineapples bits from the other. After having eaten half the pineapple bits, he set the can aside for later and took out The Wizard of Oz from his coat pocket, made himself comfortable and he began to read. John spend the next hour reading, only looking up when Katrina came in, her face looking more sad then ever as she went to talk with Kyle and Derek. After ten minutes, she left again, glancing at John as she passed him to get to the door. Not long after Katrina left, Mark came in to the room and with him, was Allison, who looked pale but otherwise alright. Allison's right arm was over Mark's shoulder and her left was raised to her head as she caressed the bandage on her head. Her dog trotted along beside her, growling at Mark. John quickly set the book aside and stood up to help, but Mark quickly waved him down, "She's alright. She's just got one hell of a headache. I should have listened to Dean and got her back sooner". John sat back down again and watched as Mark helped lower Allison down and she slumped to the floor next to him, still caressing her head. "There you are, safe and sound. The painkillers I gave you should kick in soon, Will you be alright here?" Allison gave a soft nod and Mark stood up straight, pulled out two bottle of water from his pocket, dropped them on John's lap before turning once again to Allison, "Are you sure we can't keep him with us for now". He pointed at her dog who had sat beside her. He responded with a deep growl that made Mark take a step back. Allison looked up and shook her head and simply said, "He won't go anywhere without me". Mark sighed, a mixture of both relief and disappointment in his face.

He spoke to Kyle and Derek before leaving, telling them the reason why Allison was in distress and he quickly left the room. Kyle glanced over and caught John's eye. He must have considered coming over but after their eyes met, Kyle knew John would look after her and so remained beside Derek, who looked more bored then ever. John noticed Allison was shivering slightly though she was doing her best to hide it. He took his blanket and threw it over her back. She jumped in surprise, not expecting the blanket to come but she didn't stop him as he made sure it was firmly wrapped around her shoulders. He knew full well that Kyle was watching him and Derek might have been as well, but he didn't dare look in their direction as he knew he'd end up going redder in the face then he already was. Allison seemed content to allow him to do what he was doing and smiled at him was he finished, "Thank you". He smiled back and moved the barrel that they used for the fire closer so it was in front of them both. He spent the next ten minutes tearing up a half rotten blanket and tossed the pieces in to the fire. Allison watched him and every time he looked up and their eyes met, she looked away again. When they had a warm fire before them, he sat back and they both watched the yellow flames. Her dog watched them also from her other side but it quickly lost interest and then moved around the room, enjoying himself as he chased any rats he found out of the room through the cracks in the walls. John took one of the bottles of water and offered the second to Allison, as well as the spear can of food he had set aside for her. She again said, "Thank you", and set the can aside and only took a long drink of water.

"How's your headache". She nodded her head softly as to not aggravate it and make the headache worse, "Better now that I'm back. Mark had us going in circles all morning". She smiled again and seemed to relax a bit more, "Thank you by the way". John gave a confused look, not knowing what she meant, "Thank you for being there for me", She pointed to the bandage on her head, meaning she was talking about John taking care of her when there was a good chance she would die. John gave a small smile, "Don't mention it. I did what anyone else would have done". Her smile faded a little but it was still there on her beautiful face. John tired not to notice that beauty but it was there, right in front of him and he couldn't stop staring. "I wish that was true, but most people would have left alone and they would have hoped I had died. If I'm dead, then that's one less mouth to feed, one less person to worry about". Her smile had gone now and she looked sad. John shook his head at her, "I don't believe that, they wouldn't just let you die. Alistair's a good guy, he wouldn't have let it happen and Kyle and Derek wanted to help you as well". She smiled again, but her saddened expression remained, "Alistair's always been nice to me. I don't know why but I guess it's just the way he is. Derek and Kyle were always friendly. They would bring me food and water for Cecilia when I couldn't. But everyone else only cares about themselves".

John gave a small nod to show he was listening and he did believe her because he now understood why everyone in the group had looked at him the way they did. It was because they knew John was an extra mouth to feed and that meant less food and supplies for them. They stayed silent for a while, watching the flames burn brightly. The silence was interrupted when Allison's dog got carried away with one of the rats and began knocking in to things and pushed over a three legged broken chair. Allison raised her right hand and loudly clicked her fingers. The dog reacted instantly and ran towards her, leaving the rats alone and it lay down beside her. He licked her hand once before resting it's head on her lap and she turned to John and asked, "Did you know your mom?" John looked up from the flames, surprised by the question, "Yeah I did". Allison didn't take her eyes from the flames, "What was she like?" John was again surprised by the question, wondering why Allison would want to know about his mom of all people. He hoped she wouldn't ask about his father as he glanced over to Kyle, was had fallen asleep in his chair, leaving Derek alone looking more bored then ever.

"She was….well, she was scary. At least she was when I was just a kid". She laughed, receiving an annoyed look from her dog for disturbing it and she stocked his head as he rested his head again on her lap. "What about you dad?" John had hoped that she wouldn't ask that question and he automatically looked over at a sleeping Kyle. He couldn't think of anything to say other then to tell her what he told everyone and what was technically true from his point of view, "I never knew him. He died before I was born. My mom never talked about him much. Why do you want to know?" She shrugged her shoulders as if it didn't matter, "I'm just wondering if they were like you. You're different from everyone else I know". John gave a small smile in reply, "Good different or bad different?" She tired not to giggle as she replied, "Just different. You're not like everyone else I know". She quickly looked away, obviously feeling a little embarrassed. "What about your mom and dad?" Her smile died away quickly as her eyes fixed again on the flames. "I don't remember my mom, or my dad. I can't remember what even their names were. I remember my dad teaching me how to draw and my mom used to listen to music, but nothing else".

She rubbed her bandage softly again before remembering that she had been told to leave it alone and lowered her hand again. "When did they die? On Judgement day?" She nodded once and John saw a single tear form and fall down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away with her sleeve, hoping he wouldn't notice and looked disappointed with herself when she saw that he did notice. "What about Cecelia?" Allison wiped her cheeks again before again looking in to the fire. "She's like a mom to me. She was always blind as far as I can remember. I don't know how she found me but she took care of me, kept me warm, told me stories when I was scared and made sure I had food and water. Now, I have to take care of her because she can't do it herself anymore. She's old, even older then Alistair. I'm the only one she remembers now, her minds nearly gone. Sometimes, she forgets me as well. It makes me cry sometimes". She looked a little surprised at herself for saying so much, "I don't even know why I'm telling you this". She looked taken aback and confused, but John simply laughed, "Your telling me this because we're friends. That's what friends do, talk to each other, even friends who you've known only a few weeks". She smiled at that and for a while, she remained quiet and watched her dog sleep beside her. "What's his name anyways? You never said". She looked at him and then to her dog and then back to him again, "He doesn't have a name. I've had him for three years now, ever since he was a puppy he only listens to me anyways so I guess it doesn't really matter".

John laughed, making her go slightly red, "You can't not give him a name. He has to have something. What about Max? Or Rex?" Allison shook her head, "The other dogs back with Alistair have those". John frowned and both he and Allison spend the next ten minutes coming up with names between them, each name becoming sillier as time went on, making them both laugh hard until their ribs hurt. When they finally managed to stop themselves laughing, their faces red, Allison's eyes fell on to the book beside him, "What book is that?" John picked up the book and held it out to her, "The Wizard of Oz. My mom used to read it to me when I was little. Here, have a look". Allison took the book, stared at the cover for a moment and then the first page. Suddenly, she snapped it shut and handed it back to him, looking embarrassed. "You can read it if you want, I've read it before". She shook her head and her face turned redder. When John wouldn't take it, she dropped it on his lap and turned away; looking more embarrassed then John had seen her so far. John, confused, set the book aside, "What's wrong?" Allison again shook her head, not meeting his gaze, it's nothing, I'm fine, I've got a headache, I'm going to get some sleep". She didn't look like she wanted or needed sleep, nor did she look like she was suffering from a headache. John thought it an excuse for her to stop talking to John. He didn't know why, but she was embarrassed by something and he couldn't figure it out. Despite her embarrassment, Allison lay down right next to him and wrapped herself in his blanket and she slept. John took up his book and scanned the first page for anything that could have upset her. The page was exactly as it was when he read it earlier and wondered if he had said something wrong but not coming to any conclusion and putting it out of his mind; he continued to read from where he left off. She watched him read for a while before eventually closing her eyes.

Allison slept for the next two hours, or she was pretending to sleep. Either way, she didn't move and kept her eyes closed. Her dog lay beside her, doing what it did best and chased away any rats that scurried to close to her. John gave him the last of his pineapple bits as a reward and was licked in the face in return. He had now read half the book and not wanting to read it all in one day, set it aside and stood up to stretch his legs. His swollen knee caused some discomfort but he was glad to be walking at least. He walked around the room, looking through the things that had been left there and looked around the area where Burke and his friends had stayed before leaving, hoping Burke had left something they could use but he hadn't and so he kept looking around. He went through some old damp boxes that had been dropped in the back corner and the bottom box was half sunk in a puddle of water which was filled by a crack in the ceiling above which allowed the water to get in. He went through the items in the boxes, finding nothing of interest except a broken radio. He took it out and after examining it, he decided that he could at least try and fix it. It gave him something to do at least. He took it to a small table, sat down and set to work. "Can you get that thing to work?" Kyle appeared behind him and was about to pat him on the back before John signalled him not to, in which he grinned in reply, "I don't know, I'll give it a go".

Kyle sat down opposite him and watched as John began measuring the wires inside, using his finger as a marker. "Where'd you lean to do that?" John gave a small grin as he sat up straight, "A friend of my moms showed me how years ago. He taught me a lot about stuff like this". He was thinking of Enrique, a friend of his and Sarah. He had liked Enrique and thought of his as an uncle but that thought disappeared when he was killed by Cameron for betraying them. John was hurt by his death, but his betrayal of them hurt more. Kyle nodded at his explanation and gave a long sigh as he watched him work, "What's wrong?" "Nothing, I just can't wait to get back. I hate sitting around like this, doing nothing. It's dangerous. There could be machines just outside the door and no one would know until it was killing us. I'd rather be outside, keeping an eye on things. So do they". He nodded his head at the two men who had survived and both were still playing cards, though they looked utterly bored out of their minds. "Then go out then. If we're moving like you plan to, then you better go make sure the way back to Alistair is safe enough for all off us. Take those two and go". He nodded their head in the direction of the two men and Kyle just stared before nodding, "Yeah, I might just do that, it beats sitting around doing nothing and …..." He stopped when John tired two wires together and the radio came to life, making soft static sounds. "Hey, not bad. See if you can pick up anything".

John didn't know if he could though as the radio had already fallen apart and was only being held together by his fingers now. He tired to manually tune the radio but despite his efforts, all they got was static but Kyle's face showed no disappointment, "Ah, never mind. We can't win them all can we? I better go ask Katrina If we can leave for a few hours. I don't want her getting the wrong idea and sending Mark out to kill me". He got up and left the room and John tried once again to repair the radio. He managed to get the radio to stick together again so he could tune it easier and he moved the tuner very slowly and listened hard at the static. On two occasions, he thought he had heard something, some words but he couldn't make them out and thought he must have just imagined them. Kyle then returned, a large smile on his face, "She said yes". He nodded, grabbed his coat and rifle, "You two, get your gear, we're going for a walk". They left their cards on the table and grabbed their coats and rifles as fast as they could. "John unhooked the radio to silence the static and looked up to Kyle, who was just about to leave, "Hey, do you want me to come along with you?".

Kyle didn't even need to think about it before answering, "No, we're fine. You take it easy and besides, I think she wants you". His eyes looked up and past John and as he turned, he saw Allison was awake, the book on her lap and she had the first page open again. She looked up at John and gave a nervous smile. John made his way over while Kyle and the two men left the room, glad to be free of their small prison. "Hey, you feeling any better". She nodded but didn't look up from the book. Sitting down, John watched her for a few moments and realised that wasn't reading it at all and her eyes were fixed on a single point on the page, "I can't read", she finally said. John knew better then to laugh and didn't find that fact remotely funny at all, he was more shocked then anything else. At least this explained why she had reacted the way she did earlier, "How can't you read?" She looked at him sternly, expecting him to have a smile on his face to show he was making fun of her and she was equally surprised to see there was no smile at all. "I never went to school", she explained. "I was too young when Judgement day happened. Cecilia said she wanted to teach me but she was always to sick. I've never told anyone". She looked like she was about to cry and John put that down more to being ashamed then upset or she could have been feeling both. He gave a small smile and took the book from her lap, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I'll teach you if you like".

Allison stuttered in surprise; bring a concerned glance from her dog before it lay down again, its eyes fixed firmly on the door. "You'll teach me how to read?" John nodded and leant back against the wall, remembering how bad he was at leaning at school and wondering how bad he'd be at teaching, but kept his eyes on hers, "Once we're out of here, back with Alistair, I'll show you how to read and write". Her face reddened again, darker then ever before. She tried and failed to say thank you but John gave a smile to show she didn't need to thank him. "Has Cecelia read you this before?" He held up the book and Allison shook her head. He nodded and raised his arm above her head, "Come here then". She gave a soft laugh and moved in closer to John and allowed him to wrap his arm around her as she rested her head on his shoulder . John didn't think about how stupid it was for a teenage boy to be reading to a teenage girl because all around him, unlike back in the past when he and Allison would be ridiculed for doing this, no one here cared. He doubted that Allison was the only person of her age who could read and write as those skills weren't important anymore.

Reading and writing weren't going to keep you alive if a machine found you or slavers attacked. It felt strange at first to be reading out loud as his mother had done to him as a child, but he quickly got used to it and Allison listened to every word and he noticed her smiling every now and then for no apparent reason. He knew Allison was happy, happier then she'd been in a long time because now, other the Cecilia, who's old mind was slowly forgetting her as she aged, Allison had someone to talk to, she had a friend. He didn't know when Allison fell asleep and upon noticing, he put the book aside and watched as her dog growled at an approaching rat, which scurried away quickly. John, surprisingly comfortable, closed his eyes and hoped he'd fall asleep soon. He then heard the dog growl again and thought it must be scaring away another rat but he growled again and again and John heard him get up. He opened his eyes and saw the dog was growling at the door. Then he heard raised voices and knew something was wrong. He eased Allison off his shoulder and she woke up, moaning as she was comfortable and John grabbed his rifle from next to his still damp jacket. The only other person in the room was Derek and he was awake, trying to get up off the bed but finding it difficult with his wounds. Not knowing what was happening, all they could do was wait. Suddenly, the floor flung open and Kyle ran in, stopped and looked around and his eyes fell on John and Allison, "You two, get your things, we're leaving now!"

John turned and grabbed his coat and though it was damp on the outside, it was warm and dry inside which was at least better then the night before. Allison scrambled up and found her own coat and clicked her fingers at her dog, which obediently moved to stand beside her. John grabbed the book and put it in his pocket and made sure he still had his pistol, which he did. Kyle helped Derek put his coat on and Derek threw his arm over his brother's shoulder for support, "What the hells going on Kyle?" There were panicking voices coming from the corridor outside, echoing from the entrance in to the tunnels, they reached the door and Kyle helped Derek through, "Burke is what's going on, you two, move now". John heard the name and swore under his breath and made for the door. Allison was right behind him and she grabbed John's hand as they left through the door after Derek and Kyle. John glanced at her and he saw the fear in her eyes and John felt the same fear in him as well. The slavers were coming for their prize and Burke was leading them to the kill.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 - Fight and Flight

John remembered the first time he walked in to Katrina's hideout, carrying an unconscious Allison in his arms. The rooms and hallways were filled with hundreds of candles, which stood on unused tables and chairs to light the way from room to room. The glow they made gave the whole place Katrina's people lived a homely feel to it, something which John had never experienced in his life, as he was always forced to move village to village, town to town and city to city, never staying in the same place for too long. He never admitted it to anyone, but the one thing John missed about his life was that he couldn't call anywhere home. He very much doubted that Allison could call anywhere home either, as she drifted along with Alistair from one hiding place to another, hiding from merciless machines determined to kill them. In a sense, both he and her were wonderers, drifters, travellers, been forced to move from place to place in order to survive and despite only being there three days, it did house them for a time and in that time, John and Allison had formed and built their friendship and strengthened it in a short space of time, but that friendship could end just as quickly as it had formed, as they now had to fight for their lives, as did everyone else with them. Hand in hand, they followed Kyle and Derek down the corridor. John could feel Allison shaking through their bound hands and he himself felt nervous now. He knew from what Kyle, Derek and even Alistair had told him, Burke was a dangerous individual.

Not only that, he now had over a hundred slavers with him, all desperate to kill, rape, steal and enslave, which made a already angry Burke deadly. John gave Allison's hand a firm squeeze for reassurance and her shaking lessened slightly, though it was still there. Derek groaned and grunted as he walked with Kyle's support, his wound's still only just starting to heal. Half way down the hall, Derek pushed Kyle away and walked on his own, though in doing so he moved slower. He shook his head when Kyle tired to help him again and Kyle took the hint that his brother didn't want to use him as a leaning post. Kyle then ran ahead, leaving the three of them to follow behind. Derek gave a short glance to John and Allison before continuing on without saying a word, gritting his teeth as he did though he didn't once complain, knowing that what was going to happen very soon, he needed to be able to run fast and shoot fast. John and Allison followed Kyle and Derek through in to the main entrance room, where Katrina was waiting with all of her group. All thirty of them stood huddled together, looking both nervous and scared. Those who weren't armed clung to their children, who in turn looked around wildly, some of them too young to know what was going on while those who did were simply upset they were leaving their home. Katrina stood at the back of the group, holding her baby son in one arm and holding the hand of her older son in the other. Mark stood beside them and seemed to be trying to get through to Katrina, who was pale white and John guessed she was in a state of shock. John watched them for a moment and saw the similarities between both of her sons and Mark, confirming his suspicion that Mark was their father.

Mark turned and upon seeing that they had arrived, beckoned both Derek and Kyle to join him. John stood with Allison by the door they just came through, both of them observing what was happening in the room. Katrina remained idle with her two young sons, not even flinching as her baby son pulled hard on her jet black hair. The rest of the group were just trying to keep their children quiet and keep brave looks on their faces, though those brave looks never stayed long as they quickly disappeared to be replaced by fearful and desperate looks. Allison knelt down as her dog began to growl and silenced him with a soft pet on the head and John knelt down beside her, "The first time I met Burke, he tried to force himself on to you and I think he's tried it a lot before I turned up. Am I right?" Allison turned to him, her face telling him that he had done with out her needing to say a word. He sighed and took out his pistol, along with the two spare ammo clips he had. Allison stared at them for a moment before diverting her eyes back to John's. "He hates me and he knows we're friends, he knows we're close. He'll do what he can to get his hands on you. I want you to take this, just in case. I know you don't have one".

Allison shook her head and began searching her own pockets for her own gun and was John already knew, she didn't have it. She had lost it when the tunnel had collapsed on to them. "Allison, please take it. I'll feel a lot better if you have it". She nodded her head and took the gun along with the ammo clips, which she put in her coat pocket. John was about to take the gun from her to show her how to use it, but she pulled it out of his reach and showed him she knew how to use it. She took the current ammo clip out to see if it was loaded which it was. She then reloaded it, primed it and checked the safety was on. She grinned when she saw his surprised look, "I'll only use it of I have to". John grinned back and before they could say anything else, someone tapped him on the shoulder. John turned to see Kyle, who quickly nodded his head to the door, "John, I need to talk to you alone, now. Allison, you just stay close to John here. I'm pretty sure he'll look after you". Allison nodded her had and couldn't hide her grin when she looked to John. She went red again and looked away before Kyle could notice. Kyle did notice however and he grinned at them both, "Derek will be part of the escort so he can keep an eye of you both". They both nodded in reply and Allison glanced over to Derek and though she trusted Derek, the look on her face told John she wasn't enthusiastic due to him been wounded the way he was.

John couldn't blame her as he looked over at Derek also and saw he was having trouble keeping his rifle raised for more then a few seconds due the pain of his wounds. Standing up, John followed Kyle to the back of the room where they wouldn't be overheard. Kyle made sure they were out of ear shot of everyone before speaking, "We haven't got long. We've got five minutes at the most. Burke's got himself a little lost in the tunnels but he won't stay lost for long, so here's the plan. Me, Mark and some of his guys are going to hold Burke off for as long as we can. We can't hold them off for long, there's too many of them and only a handful of us". The sound of Kyle's voice wasn't giving John much hope for what was coming soon. Kyle sounded like he was saying goodbye and though that might be true, it's not something John wanted. Kyle was his father after all and he'd only just stared to get to know him. Kyle gave a quick glance at Katrina's group and a longer one at the children and shook his head as he turned back, "I don't like this any more then you do. I doubt any of us will live more then an hour. I've been wrong before and I hope to hell I'm wrong now. Half of Katrina's men will be with me and Mark.

The other half will stay escort those who can't fight". John nodded and they both looked over at the two groups that had assembled. Katrina, the women and children stood together, along with a few guards who would escort them out and with them was a disappointed Derek. He wanted to stay but in his condition he couldn't do what was needed to be done, leaving him on escort duty. The second group was the group that would hold Burke off and was much smaller. Mark was waiting with four of his men as well as both of the other survivors from Derek's group. With Kyle, that made only eight men ho would stay behind to fight. Eight men against one hundred slavers. John shook his head, very much doubting he would see his father again "its suicide. You don't stand a chance against a hundred of them". It was Kyle's turn to shake his head and he caught Mark's eye and knew they needed to go quickly, "We've got a batter chance against a hundred slavers then we have against a single machine and we're tougher then we look. We'll give Burke a run for his money and I'd gladly die if it gives those kids a chance to live. Me and Mark need you to be the rear guard of the group. I've seen you shoot; you're good enough to hit anyone who follows you at a distance. Once your outside, Derek will lead the way back to Alistair and we'll follow if we're still alive. This might be goodbye John so good luck". He held out his hand and though John was tempted to hug his father, he took his hand and said the same in return.

John watched as Kyle and Derek embraced and both brothers knew that this was a strong possibility that this was goodbye for them as well. Neither betrayed their emotions and they parted without words, though both looked a little saddened and upset. He left second's later with Mark and the other six men who would hold Burke off. Mark hesitated when his eyes caught Katrina's and it didn't take a genius to figure out that they were parting with unfinished words. Mark waved at his eldest son who waved back and he then lead the way to the door and shouted, "Right everyone, let's do this. Good luck". He, Kyle and the other six left first and took the left tunnel towards where Burke and his slavers were approaching. Katrina's people now began to leave; taking the right tunnel which John guessed was the way out. Just getting through the door took a long time due to the large number of children. Katrina gave a last look around the room, the safe haven her own father had made to protect her and the rest of the group from Skynet and its machines. Her saddened face told its own story as she was lead out of the room with her two sons by Dean, who had both the bags with the medical supplies. Allison was with them, in one hand she held the lead to her dog, which walked beside her and in the other, she held the pistol John gave her. She gave John a soft smile as she past him, one that John felt himself reddening at seeing.

Outside, The man who had been attacked by rats days before and was still covered in bloody bandages closed the door with a loud bang and just as he was moving back to join the group, a grenade fell from one of his pockets and everyone who hear it hit the floor turned to stare, fearful it would go off. A look of relief came across their faces as he knelt down to pick it up. John then suddenly got an idea, "Here, give it to me". Standing upright, the held the grenade in his hand with a sly smile, "And why should I give it to you, we might need it". John took a step to the side and pointed at the door, "Those slavers are still going to kick that door down to loot the place. I'll rig the grenade to explode when the door opens". His face didn't look convinced but he handed the grenade over to John when he caught Derek's eye and he rejoined the group. John and Derek went back to the door and John set to work. Derek watched him curiously, "First, you're able to hack in to an electrical locked vault and now you're going to rig the door to explode. I haven't seen anything like that since Hollywood was still around". John gave a weary smile as he fixed the grenade to the bottom of the door, in the dark where it would less likely be seen. "My mom taught me how to do this stuff. I never believed her most of the time, but she always said I'd find this stuff useful at some point. I guess she wasn't lying". Derek grinned as John finished his work.

He held his breath as he let go of the grenade and gave a small sigh of relieve as it didn't explode in his face. "Let's just hope Burke's the one who open's it". Derek nodded and turned to the group, most of whom had been watching John work with anxious expressions, "Lead the way and move fast. We've already taken to long". Despite Derek's insistence they move fast., the group began a slow and quiet walk through he dark tunnels. No one said a word and the only sounds were from footsteps and a few children crying from being scared of the dark. Their parents did their best to keep them quiet but most of these attempts were failure due to their own tears coming from being forced to leave their home. Derek and John brought up the rear of the group, both looking over their shoulders expecting to see Burke and his slavers appear behind them but they saw nothing but the dark. A sudden gunshot which echoed through the tunnels made them all jump and a few children cried out in fear. They all instinctually stopped and listened instead of continuing on and a second shot rang out from a long way away. A fierce gun fight had broken out between the slavers and those who stayed behind and the sound was enough to drive the group on a lot faster now. John, Derek and two men from Katrina's group stayed at the back of the group, glancing over their shoulders every few seconds.

The gunfight was fierce and they heard screams under the sounds of the gunshots. Time and again, the gunfight seemed to slow down until nothing could be heard, but then a single shot would sound and it would start up again. No matter how much further they went, John could still hear the fight clearly and it didn't take a genius to figure out it was nearly over. He felt guilt and hatred as he listened as the gunfire stopped and then there was nothing. John felt tears build up in his eyes as that silence told him his father was dead, along with the seven others who stayed to hold Burke off, including Mark. Everyone else must have been thinking the same thing, but no one stopped moving to grieve for their loss. John himself felt physically sick. He had never known his father well, he'd only known him a few weeks in fact but his loss felt like he'd always known him and it hurt him deeply. Someone he cared deeply about had been taken from him. He had felt this way only once before, in the basement of Zeira Corporation, when he saw Cameron's still body and her parting message, 'I'm sorry John'. He held back his tears as they made their way out of the dark and in to the light.

As always, it was bitterly cold outside. The rain from the previous night had made the place seem like it had been hit by a monsoon, which in turn made it even colder. Almost instantly, John gave a groan of annoyance as he found himself once again knee deep in water. Parent's picked up their children and carried them out of the water to higher ground which was about fifty feet away. Some of the dead trees had fallen over in the previous night's rain storm, making it difficult to navigate in a straight line to their goal. The group moved slowly forwards through the water, some tripping over dead tree roots that they couldn't see in the murky water and they swore loudly when they fell. John and Derek waited until everyone else had set off through the water before following themselves. Derek's face told John everything he needed to know to what he was thinking. Derek also thought Kyle was dead and he was both heartbroken and furious. He stared back in to the darkness and all the pain from his wounds was pushed out of his mind as his grief for Kyle took hold. Despite his hatred for Burke, Derek had the discipline to put it aside to do what needed to be done, which was get as far away as possible. As they turned, they heard an explosion from deep inside the tunnels. Both gave a quick glance back before pressing on through the water. The explosion was the grenade that John had planted going off and he hoped that Burke's arrogance had made him go first through the door.

By the looks on Derek's face, he hoped Burke was still alive, so he could kill him with his own hands. They were the last ones out of the water and John could see what was left of the town in the distance. The fires the machines had started with their bombardment had been put out by the rain. Everyone waited for a minute to collect themselves. It was doubtful that many of Katrina's people had been or wanted to be outside in years. They were scared, not only because they were so exposed outside like this, but because they had their children with them. That fact alone was enough to scare John as he didn't want to see any of them die. They had to move quickly as it wouldn't be long before the slavers took the hint and followed them outside so Derek tried to get his bearings. John was fearful that Skynet's machines would find them but he could neither hear nor see anything that could indicate any threat to them. He looked for Allison within the group and saw her standing alone with her dog standing alert beside her. It wasn't barking or growling which helped make him more at ease as machines were not close by. "Derek, which way do we go?" It was the first time Katrina had spoken and she seemed to be back to her old self again, though she didn't look it. Her pale white skin made her look ill but her eyes had a certain fire to them, a fire of desire to protect her two sons, who were both terrified by their surroundings. Derek looked at a loss and shook his head with a disappointed look, "I don't know, south maybe".

Katrina some how went even whiter and John felt his something stir in his stomach. He was sure he saw something shine from the distance behind them but it was gone as quickly as it came. It was enough to make him nervous enough to point towards the town while looking at the town, "Take us there to where you found us. The dog should be able to find our scent". He was only guessing on what to do and as no one else could think of anything better, that's what they did. They moved quicker now, mostly as the children were now being carried and also because the fear of being found by the machines or caught by the slavers was strong. They moved through the ruins of the town, through collapsed buildings, passed hollow cars and over falling walls. Katrina eventfully raised her hand and pointed to small clearing where the road that went through the centre of the town was still mostly intact, "That's where we found you. We should have shot you all there and then". No one agreed or disagreed with her though John secretly agreed that she should have shot them all. Burke after all, had been part of the group then and he was no chasing them. Killing Burke then would have solved all of her current problems before they began. From here, they didn't need Allison's dog to tell them where they needed to go. All those who outside that night in the cold and the dark knew that Derek had led the group straight up the main street, which they were now on. Derek and Katina both glanced to each other, both telling each other that it was the right way to go and the group hurried down the ruined street. John saw Allison ahead of him and ran ahead to catch up. She smiled at him when he did but he smile was quickly replaced by an upset and worried look. "Is Derek okay?".

John glanced around and Derek, limping at the back of the group alone, his face telling it's own story. "I don't know. I hope so". Allison looked back herself and her face looked even sadder, "I liked Kyle, he was always nice to me. He used to stand up for me when the other girls bullied me and…" Her voice trailed off in to nothingness and she could say no more. They left the town behind them and continued on through the deserted remains of Los Angeles. Non one spoke as they walked, out of fear that they would be overheard by any machines but for John himself, machines were the last thing on his mind. The shock of Kyle's death was now getting to him and he wanted to turn around and hunt Burke down. But his urge for revenge had to be put aside for now at least. He had a job to do, people to protect. This was what he has spent most of his life training to do, protect people. They made a poor show of themselves on the move. Though they stuck together, only half of them were armed with any kind of weapon and even fewer were able to fight. John counted that including him; only nine of them could really have any chance to defend the group effectively and only then if they weren't being attacked by machines. Within the first twenty minutes of walking, they lost two people. A woman and her five year old daughter drifted off from the group without anyone noticing. Once the alarm was raised, John and three others searched for them but they were never found. John and the others reluctantly pressed on and the little hope they had of reaching Alistair quickly began to disappear. It wasn't the first time in this future when John had wished he had Cameron by his side. Just having her near would have made him feel a lot better, especially with the death and destruction which was just around the corner.

Any hope of getting to Alistair without them being noticed or attacked were quickly dashed when Allison's dog began to growl and bark. Children cried out in fear and their parents held them close to them, tears in their eyes as a low rumbling sound could be heard. John instantly looked to the sky, expecting to see the large air machines descending towards them. He saw black clouds and the occasional ray of blue sky in the gaps but other then that, he saw nothing. Drawing his eyes away from the sky, he looked around him and saw that many of the group were staring down the road back the way they came. Following their gaze, he saw for himself what was coming. The slavers were coming and they were coming fast. It wasn't machines which they had heard, but the engines of at least a dozen vehicles, all trucks of various sizes. Two or three of them were old millinery transport trucks but the others were technical's with mounted machine guns on the back. John stood open mouthed as he's eyes went from one truck to the next. Until now, he hadn't seen a working car or truck and presumed that since Alistair led his group from place to place always on foot and they themselves had come to Katrina and were leaving again on foot that no one used vehicles anymore. He also thought it would be impossible to drive now since most of the roads were gone or blocked with rubble. It took him a few moments before he got over the surprise to join in the rest of the group in running for their lives.

They ran as fast as they could, frantically trying to get away from the approaching slavers but it was completely hopeless. The slavers were moving a lot faster then them as they had trucks and were gaining on them. John could hear some of the cheering, enjoying the chase which was going to end very quickly. They were gaining and got close enough for the men on the lead truck got close enough to fire their weapons. The slavers took care not to hit anyone as they wanted to capture most of them but the shots never the less scared some of them to the ground where they cowered in fear. John saw a woman and her son fall to the ground where she used herself to shield him. John ran to them as fast as he could and tried to help them up but they were too scared to move. Her heard some more cheers and looked up. The lead truck had got far ahead of the other slavers and they had saw John trying to help the woman and her son. They sped towards them quickly, the slaver on the mounted machine gun fired at him, hoping for a easy kill but he was moving fast on uneven ground. John on the other hand was crouched and stationary. John's first shot missed but his second hit the machine gunner in the shoulder.

The slaver fell back and only managed to not fall off the truck by holding on to the machine gun with all his might. John aimed downwards saw the driver through the glass and fired a burst of three bullets. Three large bullet holes appeared in the glass and the inside of the window became stained with blood. The truck veered violently to the left and despite the best efforts of the co driver, the truck hit the shell of an old car and flipped over. The machine gunner was thrown in to the air to his death and the surviving co driver was crushed when the truck hit the ground. John didn't stay to watch his handiwork and pulled the women and her son to her feet, "RUN!" he ordered her and she did run this time and John followed. What John didn't anticipate was his small act of defiance against the oncoming slavers spurred the other eight men including Derek to stop, turn and make themselves ready to fight. They cried out to their families to keep running and they reputably did. They crouched by what ever cover they could find, be it a pile of rubble or a car. John himself found Derek and they crouched together behind some rubble and Derek gave John a respectful nod. John retuned the nod and looked behind him and saw Allison running ahead of him. He watched her run for a moment and he hoped she would keep running, no matter what she heard. He turned back the trucks came in to range and he, Derek and the other opened fire. The fight that happened next was short and brutal, similar to what they had heard earlier in the tunnels. They were both outnumbered and outgunned and despite having good defensible positions and cover, it did little to compensate to the slavers firepower.

They managed to stop another technical truck, killing all three slavers in it but they were quickly surrounded by the remaining slavers. John and Derek had the better position then the rest of their group and together, they killed five of the slavers, but the slavers weren't stupid and knew that they had the better position and so it was on them that they focussed their efforts. John and Derek were pinned down by gunfire and before they knew it, they had guns to their heads. The other seven men put up a fight as best they could but they too were quickly overwhelmed. Four of them were killed, including the man who had been swarmed by rats. John could recognise his body by the many bandages over his hands and face. John, Derek and the remaining three survivors of Katrina's men were disarmed and their hands were bound tightly together with rope. None of them would make it easy for them and John especially made things difficult by refusing to keep still. A firm kick in his stomach forced him to give up his struggle and he was thrown hard to the ground next to Derek. John pushed himself to his knees and watched as a larger group of slaver, around twenty of them approached from the now waiting trucks. Three of the trucks didn't stop and they continued on after Katrina, Allison and the others who were running for their lives as fast as they could. Burke led that group and he had the biggest grin on his face, "You've got no idea how long I've wanted to do these Reese".

John saw Derek giving Burke a defiant look before Burke broke in to a run and kicked Derek hard across the face, sending him back in a groan of pain. John could do nothing but watch as Burke gave Derek the beating of his life. Once Burke was finished, Derek's face was almost unrecognisable. He lay there, unmoving and unconscious, his face red with blood. Those watching laughed at the show and John watched with disgust as Burke ordered his men to strip the bodies of the four men who died protecting their families of anything they could use and then dump them in the nearby creek, an order which the slavers followed gleefully. Burke looked down at Derek and gave him another kick to make sure he was unconscious, and smiled at himself as he turned to the rest of them. He saw two of the men were the two remaining men from all the people Derek had brought with him except for John and Allison. Burke made them an offer, one which was generous given their situation. He offered them both their lives and in return, they would now become part of his gang. Neither even considered accepting Burke's offer and one even spat in Burke's face before he executed them both. John closed his eyes and he heard both the shots and their lifeless bodies hitting the ground. Burke didn't bother to question the other prisoner and executed him just as quickly, leaving his body next to the others, which meant John and an unconscious Derek, were all that was left.

Then Burke stopped before John and he never hated anyone more then now. The only thing John hated more then Burke was Skynet and its machines. John looked up and his and Burke eyes fixed together, both sets of eyes full of loathing. John expected a bullet to the head but Burke didn't raise his pistol to do that. He just stared at him and then he grinned as something crossed his mind. "You know something Connor; I saw how close you and your pretty little friend Allison got so here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to make you watch while I have some fun with her. I'm going to make you watch as she screams your name, while she moans for you to help her. And once I'm done with her, I'm going to make you watch as all my men have their way with her. And only after that will I kill you. Do you understand that? She's said no to me for a long time and once I have her, she'll wish she never said no to me". Burke and the surrounding slavers laughed and a few even cheered. "And once you're dead Connor, she, Katrina and the other women are going to be a great help to us. We've got to keep the Human race going one way or another, even if we have to force them". He and the slavers laughed again and John felt something in him snap. Disgusted and feeling sick by Burke's words and unable to keep his anger under control, he lunged upwards so quick that even Burke took a step backwards in alarm. John then lunged forwards but with his arms bound by rope behind his back, Burke had no trouble in putting him down with a punch to the side of the head. John tired again to get up but an amused Burke put his foot on his throat and John managed to calm himself down enough to stop. Many of the surrounding slavers laughed and jeered at John, amused by the show. Burke grinned down at him and John looked right back, the exact opposite of a grin on his face. Burke looked up to his men, raised his hand they went silent, "Put them both in the truck. The others should have the women and children by now. Next stop is Alistair's. Plenty of women there for all of you".

Cheers greeted the news and Burke removed his foot to allow his men to take him to the truck. Derek was dragged behind him, still unconscious. John was forced in to the back of the closest truck and Derek was thrown in beside him. One man climbed in to the truck to guard them and he sat opposite John, his rifle resting on his knees in case of trouble. He didn't seem bothered by his role of guarding the prisoners and judging by the look on his face, John guessed that it was a job he enjoyed doing. John was sure he was just waiting for John to try something so he had an excuse to hit him. John, his head hurting him worse then ever now, sat still, hoping some sort of opportunity would present itself for him and Derek to escape. He found it almost at once. He felt something behind him, something sharp attached to the inside of the truck. He slowly repositioned himself and slowly began to use what ever it was to cut the rope, though he had to work slowly to not attract attention. Derek regained consciousness and groaned in pain, he tried to raise his hands to his face but found his hands were bound like John's and he could do nothing but lie there. The guard laughed and kicked Derek in the stomach to shut him up which Derek did, though he was clearly in a lot of pain. After a minute or so, the rope which bound John's hands snapped and the sudden freedom of his arms made him move enough to attract attention. The guard stood up and aimed his rifle at him and John went still, "What's that behind you?" John didn't answer or reply in any way, hoping that his guard would do exactly what he wanted him to do. "I said what's that behind you? Are you deaf or just stupid?" John still didn't move and then the guard made the mistake he hoped he would make. He stepped over Derek and it was then that Derek attacked. Lifting himself up, he knocked the guard off his feet.

John, his arms now free, pounced and he wrapped his arms around the guard's neck. Before the guard got a chance to call for help, John pulled back hard and the guard's neck broke. John stayed still for a few seconds, listening hard and was relived to hear that no one had heard the commotion. He dropped the now lifeless body and picked up the rifle before turning to Derek, who was trying and failing to stand up. "Just go John. I'm not going anywhere in a hurry. I'll just slow you down. Get yourself out of here". Shaking his head at Derek, he looked out from the back of the truck and saw Burke and his slavers had finished stripping the bodies of their own fallen comrades and those they had killed. All the bodies had been dumped together in a pile and some of them were debating whether or not to burn them. He saw Burke In the middle of the whole group, waiting for the return of those who chased after Katrina, Allison and the others and John aimed his new rifle at him. He had a clear shot and just as he was about to fire, a worried and nervous look came across Burkes faced. Even this was enough to stop John from shooting him and then he heard why Burke's facial expression had changed. It was the sound John hoped he wouldn't hear on their way back to Alistair, it was the machines. Three hunter killers, huge flying machines flew buy, each of them unleashing rockets down on to the trucks. John grabbed Derek and somehow managed to throw both himself and Derek out of the back of the truck just before it exploded.

He then somehow managed to get Derek to his feet and put his arm over his shoulder. The machines made quick work of the remaining trucks, making sure that the slavers were effectively stranded. Some slavers were killed outright, some ran for their lives but the others fought back despite the fact it was a futile effort. The underbellies of the three machines opened and more machines, T eight hundreds jumped out from the inside to fight the slavers directly. At least twenty or thirty T eight hundreds landed, all holding what looked like large machine guns, similar in appearance to mini guns. Once on the ground, it was more or less over. The slavers scattered as quickly as they could. Screams filled the air as some were gunned down and when John looked back, he saw a T eight hundred grabbed a slaver trying to flee and then threw him in to the flames from the burning trucks where he kicked and screamed as he burned to death. Derek suddenly tried to remove his arm from around John's shoulder, "John, just go, get out of here, you can make it if you run". Rolling his eyes, John moved forwards again, keeping Derek moving with him "What would your brother do if he was me right now".

Even through his bloody face, John could see Derek looked both angry and upset, shaking his head at the obvious answer that didn't need words. "Exactly, he wouldn't leave you, so do us both a favour and shut up, and try to walk a bit faster". John couldn't look back but he could hear what was going on. The slavers were running for their lives and the machines were mercilessly hunting them down. He knew it was a matter of time that he and Derek would both be gunned down and killed. They kept moving until they could feel bullets flying past them so they threw themselves to the ground. Derek didn't need throwing due to his wounds and he just fell to the ground and lay there like nothing mattered to him anymore. They fell in to a small ditch which provided some protection from the hundred of bullets being fired at them but not enough protection to allow them to move anywhere else, they were trapped. John held his rifle up above his head and fired blindly until he was forced to reload. He doubted he hit anything and even if he did, he wouldn't have done any damage. Derek tried to do the same but he had no strength left to raise his arms. John tried desperately to look for places to go, somewhere they could run to, some more cover maybe but the closest cover to them were some empty farm buildings next to a empty field of dead grass over fifty metres away. The only other cover available were the burning trucks and they were in the wrong direction, through the machines. He thought about running for it, to the farm buildings but the distance was too far. They'd be gunned down before they got anywhere near them.

The battle was over before it really began. Around half of the slavers had been killed and the other half were now running for their lives in every direction. From where they were hidden, John could some of them running. He saw two of them fall as the machines gunned them down. Somehow, one of the trucks was still working and tow slavers tried to drive away. They didn't get far before a well aimed rocket form a hunter killer put an end to them both. John could hear the footsteps from the machine that had them pinned down moving towards them. John quickly reloaded and aimed up but the machine beat him to it, kicking his rifle aside and pressing the chamber to his forehead. John's eyes met the red ones of the machine and in his mind, there was no possible way that he was going to survive this time, but he was once again wrong in thinking that it was his time to die. He saw the machines fingers moving slowing on the trigger, but as it was about to pull the trigger, someone began shooting at almost point black range at the machines face. Within seconds, its eyes, its only real weak spot had been blown apart and its chip was damaged beyond repair. The machine fell forwards and John only just managed to move out of the way before it crushed him. Looking up to the man who saved them, he couldn't quite believe it was his father he was looking at. Kyle, the most determined look on his face, quickly pulled John to his feet and then moved to help his brother.

He didn't bother with waiting for Derek to get to his feet himself and threw Derek over his shoulders, "This way John, now". What few machines that had remained behind from chasing the slavers by had seen what had happened and turned their attention on them. Now, six or seven machines were firing at the three of them and John could only put it up to pure luck that they managed to reach the farm house without getting hit. Kyle led him around the back of the house and to his surprise, one of the slavers technical trucks were waiting. Kyle ran towards it and more or less dumped Derek in the back before getting on himself and manning the mounted machine gun, "John, get inside, quickly!" Still in shock at his father's survival, it took a moment for Kyle's instructions to sink in before he opened the door and got in to the passengers seat. Behind the wheel was one of the men who had been with Mark. He gave John a dark look but didn't say anything as Kyle shouted at him to drive. He started the engine and they were off but they weren't alone. In a truck, they could out run the T eight hundreds on the ground but not the hunter killers in the air. Within seconds, they had one of the three hunter killers following them.

Kyle opened fire with the mounted machines gun but the bullets harmlessly bounced off its metal plating and kept on following. The driver turned quickly left and right to avoid being hit by the machines rockets which were fired at them. The rockets exploded and blew debris in every direction and also shattering the only window that was left of the truck. They turned on to a highway which led deep in to downtown Los Angeles and so were forced to dodge between the many cars which were there, all now tombs for their former occupants. The driver was forced to ram in to some cars just to keep moving and keep them from being killed. The hunter killer were baring down on them and John joined Kyle in firing at the machine, handing out of the passenger window to do so, though like Kyle's mounted machine gun, he did no damage due to its thick armour. Even Derek managed to regain enough composure to fire back at the machine.

John didn't know if it was him, Derek or Kyle who destroyed the machine after a hectic chase in which they used up most of their ammo and the truck had been almost torn apart by the machines bullets and plasma shots once it ran out of rockets. One of the machines plasma shots blew a hole in the side of the truck and as both John and Kyle held on as hard as they could before they were thrown out of the truck. In doing so, both fired and random burst of bullets at one of the machines twin engines. John had fired countless bullets at the engines but to no effect but suddenly, its right engine exploded and the machine came crashing down. John was sure the machine attempted to land on top of them in a last attempt to kill them but the driver managed to turn out the way just in time. The machine crashed and its second engine exploded with a colossal bang, send metal fragments everywhere.

Kyle saw one of the fragments coming right at him and ducked just in time as it nearly cut him in half. They skidded to a halt not to far away and the three of them got out, leaving Derek to watch from the truck and slowly approached what was left of the machine. Two red eyes shone brightly still and the three of them aimed their weapons but they all quickly saw that the machine had no way of attacking them now. Its weapons were destroyed or too badly damaged to work. Its red eyes were slowing fading to nothing. They focussed suddenly on John and John stared right back. He was sure it recognised him as the eyes seemed to focus more suddenly and then less as if it were surprised. Then the red eyes died, leaving the machine as no more then a heap of metal on the road and all of them gave a sigh of relief. Kyle immediately ran to his brother and they both embraced as if they hadn't seen each other in years. Derek's injuries had seriously begun to take their toll on him and he had trouble not to pass out. The driver gave John a sour look before walking away and sitting down with his head in his hands. John, despite his relief at some how once again surviving and that they were safe, at least for the time being, felt uneasy. He had a bad feeling that the machine had somehow recognised him before its power supply dwindled enough to cut power from its chip. The thought that Skynet might know he was here, alive and in the future now was enough to scare him and all he could do was hope the machine was to badly damaged to relay a signal back to Skynet or any other machines.

They stayed where they were for a while as Kyle tore of strips of his own shirt to use as bandages for Derek, who did eventually pass out again in the back of the truck. John kept a watch out; looking for the two remaining hunter killers who he knew would show up eventually in search of the third. Knowing they couldn't stay there for long, they got back in to the truck and drove off the road and across the wasteland, away from the burning remains of the machine. After a couple of miles, they ran out of fuel and had to move on foot, Kyle carrying Derek over his back. The driver, who had remained silent the entire time so far, eventually asked, "How far is it to this Alistair guy?" John didn't have the faintest idea and Kyle merely grunted a response, clearly not in the best of moods. "What's wrong with you, are you deaf? I said how far it is". Kyle stopped and gave him a long look before responding, "Look, one more word out of you, and I'll shoot you in the leg. If you haven't already noticed, we're in the middle of no where, we've got hardly any ammo and there's only three of us able to fight back if we run in to trouble. So, shut up, keep walking and keep your eyes and ears open". Kyle left him standing there in shock and disbelief as he pressed on. Kyle winked at John as he passed and they continued on. The driver followed at a distance and they eventually lost sight of him. They never saw him again. They heard a loud scream from far away along with gunfire, but they couldn't tell if it was him or not.

They couldn't risk going back to check and so pressed on, hoping to find some water to drink. Luckily, they came across a small stream and they stopped for a drink. The water looked safe enough though Kyle advised him to only drink a little as they couldn't be sure. Derek woke up again and sat in silence as he and John listened to Kyle's account of what happened in the tunnels. He told them how the slavers had simply overwhelmed them with their numbers and firepower. He told them that they fought as best they could but Mark yelled at them to run. They did so but Kyle and the driver were the only ones to get away. Kyle told them that Mark went back to save one of his men, but was killed in the attempt. John was saddened by Mark's death, as he was the few people he had met who were willing to fight for those they care about, for those they love. John then recounted to Kyle on what happened to him and Derek once they left the tunnels. Kyle closed his eyes as he heard about Burke executing Katrina's men and shook his head in anger when he hared of Burke's threat to Allison and Katrina. "We told Alistair years ago that he couldn't trust Burke that he wouldn't change. He never listened. He was sure that if we gave Burke enough time, he would come round; he would change for the better. Well, you can see how that worked out. All those people now dead because of one man's greed". He shook his head again before taking a drink of water himself as did Derek, who continuously rubbed his head and groaned in pain. "Hey bro, this whole new look you've got going. The blood and cuts. I don't think the girls are goanna like it". Even with everything they'd been through, they all managed to laugh at that. Derek took the comment to heart and used the stream to wash most of the blood away, though it was clear that he needed bandages to help them heal alright. Kyle eventually stood up and looked around them, trying to get their bearings, "We better get going. We don't want to be out here when it get's dark. We've got one hell of a walk to get back to Alistair".

John quickly stood up also, "We can't go back yet. We've got to go back for Allison, for Katrina and the others. We can't just leave them". Kyle gave a long sigh before replying, "Look, I like Allison just as much as the next guy and believe me, I'd like nothing more then go and make sure she's alright. But you ran right in to a machine patrol John and hardly anyone come's out alive from those. We were very lucky, very lucky, luckier then most to get out of there like we did. We have to face facts. She's probably dead, they're all dead". Kyle's words hit John like a sledgehammer and he quickly turned to Derek, "Come on Derek, help me out here". Derek looked at him for a long time and then he did the exact thing John didn't want him to do, he shook his head, "I'm sorry, but Kyle's right. If we go back, we'll end up getting killed. Those machines will be there for the rest of the day, longer even". John lowered and shook his head. He never thought he could feel so betrayed and angry at the same time. His own father and uncle were giving up on people that they couldn't be sure were dead or alive. These weren't just people either, these were people they knew, who they said would take them to safety and John couldn't believe that they were abandoning them so easily. Shaking his head in reply to Derek, he grabbed his rifle and turned back towards the way they came. "John, don't be an idiot. Don't throw your life away. Come back". He ignored Derek's plea and kept on walking, "I'm not just going to abandon them, dead or alive. Go back to Alistair if you want or come along, it's your choice", he shouted back. He didn't really care what they did either way but was a little glad when he heard, "Alright, fine, wait up", from behind him. The three of them were now heading back. To search for those they didn't even know were alive.

They walked slower then they would have normally would have. Derek was still suffering with being shot and then beaten senseless limped painfully along behind them while Kyle and John took the lead, their rifles raised. They stayed as low as they could, moving in between cars and through what ever cover they could find. They were forced to stop and hide in a ditch as a large group of machines went by. John had never seen so many machines at once before and it was clear by the looks on both his father's and uncle's face that they hadn't either. John saw T six hundreds, T eight hundreds, a handful of hunter killers and at least a hundred more machines of numerous designs. Some looked fearsome, others didn't but all of them were dangerous and deadly. It was clear this wasn't a simple patrol hunting down Humans, it was something else, something more organised. These machines weren't searching for them and must have been heading for a certain destination. The machines went on by without finding them and John, Kyle and Derek continued on, the only machines they saw were those in the distance, always hunter killers flying low and occasionally firing rockets at their targets on the ground. They walked for hours and John feared they had gone in the wrong direction but Kyle confine med they were in the right place by pointing out to the farmhouse ahead of them, now a burning wreck. Both Kyle and Derek were wrong in thinking the machines would stay after the slaughter. John couldn't see a single machine anywhere and could only presume they had moved on or were still hunting down what was left of Burke and his slavers. Kyle stood on John's right hand side and looked over at a nearby body of one of the slavers, who had been gunned down by the machines.

"John, these guys were armed to the teeth and the machines slaughtered them. Katrina, Allison and the others had nothing but pistols. If the machines found them, they wouldn't have stood a chance". John shook his head quickly, "I don't care about that. If there's a chance that one person is still alive, hiding out there somewhere, then I'm going to take that chance. You should think about that". He was shocked at himself for talking down to Kyle, who gave him a confused and angry look. Kyle nodded his head and nodded to John to take the lead which he did, in the direction where Katrina led her group. In just over ten minutes, they found them and John hated what he saw. He had hoped to find them all, women and children, alive and well, hiding and waiting for the chance to leave for safety. But all they found were bodies. One of the first John saw was Dean, his body lying over that of two children, both not even five years old. He had used himself as a shield in an attempt to save their lives but all of their lives were taken by the machines. All around them, the bodies of men, women and children lay across the landscape, their blood staining the ground around them. John fell to his knees, his eyes filling with tears despite his best attempts to prevent them.

No matter what will ever happen to him in his life, he will never get over the sight before him of dead children, not having a chance to live their lives. The only small mercy of their deaths was that they no longer had to live in fear of the determined machines, which were programmed for nothing more then their deaths. Kyle was also fighting back the tears, looking down at Dean whom he was friends with. Derek's face was one of anger instead of grief. His face still bloody, it was a terrifying sight to see the anger and blood mixed together. He stood motionless and alone, looking from one corpse to the next. John stood and began his search for Allison. She was his own real friend here and the best he could do was to bury her now, she deserved that at least. But as he moved from one body to the next, his hopes were raised because none of them were Allison. Once he found the last body and the head of the group, he turned around and looked over them all at once and noticed that some of them were missing, "Allison's not here, neither is Katrina!" Kyle and Derek looked up and from their trances of grief and anger and also began their search, confirming what John already knew a minute later. John looked around them hoping to see anything which would indicate on where they would run to. The only way he could see was somewhere he was sure he would have run to if he was in the situation Katrina and her group were in. A few ruined buildings, the remains of an old gas station were close by.

John quickly made towards them, closely followed by Kyle and Derek who both must have been thinking the same thing. Kyle was now carrying an extra bag, Dean's bag which held the medical supplies they had risked their lives for to collect. The gas station wasn't badly damaged and most of it was still standing, though most of the structure had succumbed to rust. The shop inside had been largely cleared of food by people long now gone or dead and its fuel pumps were long empty. A loud explosion sounded no to far away and they could see a fresh pillar of black smoke rise just over a mile or so away in the distance. Both Kyle and Derek raised their rifles, concerned but focussed looks on their faces. Derek turned to him and said. "Moment of truth John, go check inside and hope to hell their all in there. Make it quick, we can't stay here for long". John found the door inside had already been forced open and recently which raised his hopes further. Inside, old magazines and newspapers covered the floors and animals had clearly used the station as a home at some point due to the mess they had left behind. John checked every room from top to bottom and found nothing. He was so sure that when he opened the door to the last room, they would all be there, safe a sound but the room was empty, with no one in sight. Giving up all hope, he slowly walked towards the door when he noticed something by the counter. Half hidden beneath newspapers was wood which stood out from the stood floor. He used his foot to move some of the newspaper out of the way, revealing a trap door which he guessed must lead to the cellar. As this was the only place he hadn't checked, he cleared the last of the newspapers and took hold of the handle and pulled.

The door had long come off its hinges and the door came clean off from the floor, revealing a wooden staircase which descended in to complete darkness. John peered down but couldn't see a thing and so looked around him for something he could use as a light. He stood up and looked out of one of the broken windows, "I need a flashlight!" Both Kyle and Derek looked at each other and Derek groaned as Kyle shook his shoulders. Derek knelt down and searched his bag for the flashlight and threw it to John, who now descended the wooden stairs slowly. The stair's creaked loudly as he took step after step. He doubted that they could hold his weight and braced himself in case he fell. Even then, when one of the steps broke under his weight, he fell face forwards and crashed hard on to the dusty, cold concrete floor. He dropped the flashlight in the impact and it had rolled ahead of him. He had also lost his rifle in the fall and so felt very venerable when he heard something in the dark. He stopped moving and listened hard. At first, he heard nothing and then he heard something move again. He though it must be rats as the sounds were muffled and soft but when the sounds got closer, it was clear that it was something much bigger. He fixed his eyes on where the sound was coming from and tried to find his rifle with his free hands. He became more and more desperate to get the rifle as the sound approached him, faster and faster. Suddenly, his hand touched the rifle and he moved quickly to aim it at the approaching figure and found himself aiming his rifle at Allison's dog. He had only just stopped himself from shooting him at the last possible moment. Getting to his knees, he dropped his rifle again and clapped his hands together twice, "Come here boy". The dog sprang forwards to be stroked and to lick his face. Then another figure emerged from the darkness. He stood up saw a tearful Allison emerge from the dark. She moved slowly toward him in disbelief. "I thought you were dead" she whispered before she fell in to his arms sobbing with relief. "You came back! You came back for us". John held her tightly and looked behind her to see six other people had emerged from their hiding places, "Of course I came back", was all he could say.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 - Sacrifice

It took them many long gruelling hours to return back to Alistair following their ordeal with both Burke and the machines. Both attacks had killed all but four of those Alistair had sent to Katrina to ask for help. The same two attacks had virtually wiped out Katrina's group, leaving only her and five others alive. They tried hard to get back before night fell but it soon grew dark. John found himself carrying a young girl when she became too tired to walk. Having just become orphaned at losing both her parents, she was so scared she never even told anyone she was tired until she was almost crawling on the ground. John scooped her up in to his arms, holding her close and she clung on to him like he was the only thing keeping her from falling off the edge of the world. Soon after, they were dodging numerous hunter killers who always appeared in large numbers at night as well as the smaller drones.

It was a nightmare getting through the maze of searchlights that bore down upon them. Getting back underground was nothing more then a miracle, the machines having been so close to spotting them in the dark on so many occasions. Even when they were underground, they couldn't see anything ahead of them and even using flashlights proved useless. They only managed to move forwards thanks to Allison's dog, who with it's keen sense of smell, was able to take them back the way they came nearly a week ago. They forever looked over they shoulders in fear of being attacked again and John could only breathe easy when he saw tunnels he recognised, they were finally close to home. He looked down to the girl he was carrying as she whimpered. He thought he might have hurt her but saw her eyes were closed and she had only done so in her sleep. Looking up, he saw that they were standing outside a steel door, with a small hole in the wall next to it. It was the same hole he had been sitting by when on guard duty for Alistair. It was only when seeing the hole did he feel completely safe, despite the fact that they of course, weren't really ever safe at all.

The reunion with Alistair was far from happy. At first, he was enthusiastic when they arrived, but his enthusiasm quickly ebbed away when he saw how few had come back. He was however pleased to see that they had come back at all and gave all of them; including those he didn't know a hug. He refused to hear any news of what had happened right away and insisted that everyone had some food, water and a chance to clean themselves up first. Most of Alistair's people were already in the middle of eating the final meal of the day themselves and John thought something must be wrong because there were only around forty people there instead of the near one hundred there were a week ago. John watched as Alistair embraced Kyle and Derek and he couldn't help but grin as Alistair embarrassed them both by telling them at the top of his voice how much he loved and missed them which brought a smile to most of them. Derek didn't stay long and went to get some rest, his wounds once again catching up to him. Allison ran in to her room to Cecelia and cried as she hugged her, happy to see her again. Cecilia was more confused then anything but gave Allison a long hug before they ate what food they were given. Allison then immediately resumed her caring for Cecilia and they disappeared in to their room, along with her dog that had happily ate the meat he was given. John ate only a little of the food that he was given and gave the rest to the girl he had been carrying.

She cried silently as she ate and then rested her head on his lap and slept. As she was now orphaned, he was surprised that she ate anything at all but glad she did and despite wanting to find a warm bed for her to sleep in, he didn't protest at her being there or give her any indication he didn't want her around him, not wanting to scare or hurt her further then she already was. After a while, the room began to clear as people went to bed. Most just lay down where they were and wrapped themselves in blankets and huddled next to small fires burning within barrels. Kyle brought John a blanket and he fell asleep on the floor with the young girl. The next morning, John wished he had never woken up. He learnt that the second group that Alistair had sent out to search for supplies never came back and it was assumed that they were all dead. Kyle caught John's eye and remembering that John's insistence to search for Katrina and Allison had saved their lives, immediately volunteered to go and look for them, which Alistair reluctantly agreed to. Kyle and two other left within an hour and they came back two days later. All they found were bodies.

The loss of the second group wasn't the only loss Alistair had suffered. The supposed loss of both groups had been enough for as many as forty people to leave them, including many of the children present. Alistair had tired as hard as he could to make them stay but nothing would change their minds, wanting to leave and find another safe place. They never heard from them again and John could only assume that they too had been killed by the machines. He did hope that they found a safe haven but the likelihood of unarmed women and children doing what a fully armed group of men could not was unlikely. The first few days back were quiet for everyone. The losses over the last week had taken their toll on everyone and it seemed that no one was unaffected. Someone had lost a family member or a close friend to the machines or the slavers. Alistair seemed to be the only one who was shocked by Burke's betrayal and didn't believe it could happen, despite John, Kyle Derek and Allison's insistence that he had betrayed them. The news of Burke's betrayal as well as the recent losses really did begin to take its toll on Alistair, making him seem weaker and sicker then he already was and it was clear that he didn't have long left. John, not knowing Alistair that well but respected and even admired him to a degree, kept himself busy by volunteering to go on patrol or on guard duty, not wanting to watch as Alistair withered away before them.

After only a week back, Katrina's youngest son became sick, getting steadily worse and worse as time went on. Her older son had been one of those killed by the machines and she was distraught that she might lose the only thing she had left in the world. What made things even worse was that with Dean dead and Maggie being one of those who left the group, there was no one left who had sufficient medical knowledge to treat the baby. A few people went through all the medical supplies they had for over half an hour and eventually gave the baby some antibiotics, hoping it would help. Despite their best efforts, the baby died not long after and now having lost her home, both her children and the man she loved, Katrina completely withdrew herself from everyone. The next morning, she was found with her baby in her arms and an empty bottle of painkillers next to her lifeless body. Despite the serious risks to being spotted by machines, John and around twenty others, including Kyle, Allison and Alistair himself, took Katrina and her son outside for burial, a rare act in this cruel and brutal world. They buried mother and son together and Alistair spoke a few words before they all retreated back underground. John wasn't ashamed to admit he cried himself to sleep that night. The image of Katrina and her dead baby son and the guilt he felt for being one of those who persuaded her to leave her home was too much for even him to bear. After all, he wasn't a machine, he was still just human.

A week after Katrina died and was buried; John lay asleep in the corner of his room by the door. Though both the beds in the room were now empty as the two others who John used to share the room with had left the group, he couldn't use them. He tried the first night he got back but found them somehow impossibly uncomfortable so continued to sleep in the floor in his sleeping bag. It wasn't too bad except for it was always bitterly cold. A soft knock at the door made John stir a little but didn't wake him. A second knock, a little louder this time did wake him but his eyes remained firmly closed. He knew it was Allison at the door because only Allison knocked before coming in. He raised his hand towards the door near him and he banged on it once. Allison pulled the door open and stepped inside, "Hey John, I'm sorry. I thought you might be awake already". John grinned as he opened his eyes and sat up, "You're a really bad liar you know". Allison tried to keep a straight face but failed and a large smile formed across her face, "Yeah well, Breakfast is ready. They found and killed a deer last night so everyone's eating that this morning. If you want some, you better hurry before Kyle and Derek eats it all". John nodded and reluctantly sat up. He looked around for his shoes, which were near where he was sleeping. "Alright, I'll get up. Go on ahead and I'll catch you up". Allison's smile faded a little as she nodded and made her way to the door. John rubbed his eyes as his head once again hit his pillow.

Suddenly, Allison stopped and turned to her dog that had made to follow her, "Stay here boy, and make sure he get's up. Don't let him go back to sleep". John looked up at her in horror as she giggled and ran out the room. John had intended to lie back down for five minutes or so but with her dog here, he knew what was coming. The dog pounced on him, licking his face and pinning him down. "Come on, alright, alright, I'm getting up, stop it, I'm getting up now, Get off Max". Since getting back with Allison, he had pressed her to give her dog a name. She eventually settled on calling him Max though she never called him by that name. Max hardly responded to the name when John called him by it either and preferred to respond to Allison clicking her fingers or her body language. John was the only person apart from Cecelia and Allison who Max wasn't permanently hostile too, though he was still far from fully gaining the dogs trust. Despite Allison's best attempts, Max remained very protective of her when John was around and when ever they were close by, he would growl fiercely at him and nearly attacked him on several occasions. Max eventually got off John and sat down by John, as if daring him to lie back down. John sat up again and pulled himself out the sleeping bag, grabbed his shoes and pulled them on. He shivered in the cold air which was freezing compared to his warm sleeping bag. He used some water to clean his face from Max's licking him and then pulled on his coat, which after a few seconds, began to warm him up again. He looked down at Max and shook his head, "Well then, I'm up now. Let's go and don't even think about wanting my food after what you've just done". Max responded with a bark and followed John out the room.

The first thing that John noticed was the smell a meat and he felt his mouth water. He had been living of canned food ever since coming here and it was always cold so the prospect of warm meat instead was a welcome change. The main room was full of people and as far as John could tell, everyone was there, except Alistair and Cecelia. They were already tucking in to the meat on their plates and some were eating peaces of meat from bone like a chicken leg. The smell was overwhelming and Jon couldn't decide whether to like it or be sickened by it and tried to ignore it. John headed to the large table where the food was being prepared. One of the survivors from Katrina's group, who was an excellent cook, saw him and began cutting him a large piece from the deer, which was roasting over a hot fire on a spit. "Hey John, you sleep alright?" John shook his head as he stopped before the table, "No not really. The nightmares are getting worse". She gave a little smile as she put the meat on to a plate and handed it out to him, "Well, don't worry, their just dreams after all. They always go away eventually". She then looked around her so they wouldn't be overheard and she leant in closer to him as she put some more meat on to the plate, "Here, have a little extra. Call it a thank you for what you did for us". John looked down at the plate and though he would have gladly walked away right there and then, he held the plate back, "Thanks but no thanks, give it to the kids, they need it more then I do. I make do with a small piece". She laughed and shook her head as she went back to turning the deer on the spit. "You remind me of my brother you do. He always put other people before himself, every time. Now, off you go and eat up before it get's cold". John grinned at her and after spying Allison sitting alone at her usual table in the corner of the room, made his way over. Allison was already eating her self, though she didn't have any meat from the deer, she had just a can of peaches. She smiled at him as he sat down next to her, "You took your time". John shook his head and grinned back, "I would have got here sooner of someone hadn't set their dog on me". She laughed as John took a large bite of the meat before him. It was delicious and his mouth hurt as the taste hit home.

Max sat on Allison's other side and repeatedly tried to steal her peaches. John gave him some of the meat from his plate to keep him quiet. John and Allison slowly ate their food and John even managed to get her to eat some of the meat that he had. She at first refused to even look at it, not liking the fact that the animal they were all eating was spinning around on a nearby spit but eventually gave in and after having the first bite, couldn't get enough of it and John found that she ate more meat of the plate then he did once they had finished eating. John took to watch the others as he always did when eating because something always seemed to be going on, how ever little or unimportant it might be. Kyle was busy entertaining some of the children along with some other people with a story, making them gasp, cry and laugh with their Star Wars impressions, which from John's point of view, were absolutely terrible and but also really funny to watch. Derek sat next to Kyle, looking half embarrassed by his brother and looking half dead. He hadn't improved of his injuries since getting back much and it was starting to get to him. Unable to go on patrol or hardly move at all, he was bored out of his mind and the only entertainment he got was to clean his guns over and over again and those of whom came back from their patrols so he could keep himself busy. Turing back, John reached in to his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it. Allison saw the paper smiled and pushed both their plates aside and John placed the paper in front of them both. Since coming back, he had been teaching her how to read just as he promised her, something which they both enjoyed doing. Allison, though not having much spare time with her caring for Cecelia, had made a lot of progress since starting. She always spoke slowly but clearly and she struggled immensely when she first started to the point of frustration but got a lot better as time went on. He had written down some sentences for her to read out to him.

He pointed to the first sentence and then turned to her, "Alright, just take your time. Just start from here and take it one word at a time, just like I told you". She nodded and after composing herself, began to read. What John didn't expect was that she managed to get through the first four sentences without making a single mistake, except for pronouncing some words a little wrong and struggling with long words. Once she finished, she turned to him and waiting for his response, "Okay, Allison, I'll be honest. It was alright but…" Allison went red so fast it was as if her cheeks were on fire with shame, "Oh no, I thought I was getting better. I've done really badly haven't I? You should have told me to stop, you should have …..." She stopped in her tracks when she saw John was trying and failing to keep a smile from coming across his face, "You making fun of me!" John laughed and Allison shook her head and smiled in embarrassment. John, struggling to stop himself from laughing, "You didn't do badly at all. You did a lot batter then I thought you would have done. You're only pronouncing some words wrong but most you're getting right. There's still along way to go but your doing well. Don't beat yourself up all the time, your learning faster then I ever did. If you really want me to stop teaching you, just say so and…." "No, I want to learn. Let's do it again. I want to get it all right before I need to get back to Cecelia". They smiled at each other before turning back to the paper and continuing to read.

Once they finished, Allison had managed to read everything he wrote without any problems, except she still struggled with the longer words. She was pleased none the less and John was more then happy by how well she was able to read in so little time. Max suddenly gave a soft growl and Allison looked back behind her towards her room. She sighed and stood up, "I've got to go. I'll see you later". John nodded and stood up also, "Yeah, I'll come by later. I need to finish reading the Wizard of Oz to you". She smiled and then hugged him tightly, tighter then he had expected. He wrapped his arm around her and hugged her back and then as she pulled herself away, she kissed him on the cheek, "Thank you". Before John got a chance to ask what she was thanking him for, she quickly left, clicking her fingers once to get Max to follow her.

John then went back to his room and sat down on his sleeping bag. He resisted the temptation to get beneath it and try to get some more sleep but instead took his rifle and began his usual checks to make sure it was in adequate condition. There was another patrol setting out very soon and John had every intension of being a part of it. The only other thing he was signed up for was guard duty and despite its importance, he'd rather be on the move then standing idle by the main door. After only a few minutes, Kyle appeared at the door and shook his head at seeing what John was doing, "You're not thinking of doing what I think you doing are you?" John nodded his head and loaded his rifle and primed it, pleased that it worked fine, "Yes I am, when do we leave?" Kyle again shook his head, "I'm leading the patrol in about half an hour. You're not going anywhere, your staying here. You're guarding the main door today if you want to make yourself useful". John opened his mouth to argue, furious at being cut out just like that but Kyle quickly raised his hands to shut him up, "Don't bother arguing John, this is my call. You've gone out on every patrol since we got back. That's more then I've been on and more then double then nearly everyone else here. This is your day off, so enjoy it". John again opened his mouth to argue but stopped himself and sat back against the wall, throwing his rifle down next to him.

Kyle watched him for a moment before backing out of the room, "I almost forgot, don't get comfortable just yet, Alistair wants to see you. You know how he is, he'll have you in there talking for hours if he can, but try to keep it short. He's not…..He's not doing so well. I don't think he'll last until the end of the week". Kyle turned away, a hard saddened look on his face. John wondered if he should go after Kyle and talk to him but as he thought about it, he realised how stupid an idea it was. There was nothing John could say to Kyle to ease the pain of knowing that the person who he viewed and loved as a father was dying. John had never had a father figure in his life until a machine appeared when he was a teenager, the very same machine which allowed itself to be destroyed before his eyes in a bid to stop Skynet's creation. A bid which ultimately failed. He let Kyle leave and putting the fact that he was for today at least, confined to the hideout when he'd rather be out on patrol, making sure those who lived here were safe.

Leaving the room, he took the long way around towards Alistair's room, or as Alistair liked to call it, his office. The corridor went right around the back of the hideout, avoiding the main room altogether which relived him since he didn't like to be in there much except to eat and spend what little time he could with Allison. On the way, he passed a group of three young girls sitting alone while they played with dolls. He intended to pass them without saying a word, leaving them to play but one of them waved at him and he recognised her as the girl he had carried here. He waved back and she got up, ran to him and John knelt down to let her hug him. She hugged him for a long time before letting go, "Hey Jenifer, Are you having fun playing with your new sisters?" Jenifer nodded with a smile and held the doll up and waved its arm at him. She was mute due to the experience of loosing her entire family but John had found a family living here to look after her and they adopted her as one of their own. She was slowing recovering from her ordeal and had become close to her adopted sisters, whom she was playing with now. John playfully waved back at the doll and then looked back to Jenifer. "I've got to go. I'll see you later okay?" Nodding her head with a smile she made to turn away but then pushed the doll in to John's hand. She pointed to the doll and then to John and he understood what she wanted, "You want me to keep this?" She nodded and again smiled. John didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he nodded and hugged Jenifer again, "Thank you, I'll look after it". He stood up and watched as Jenifer went back to her adopted sisters, who promptly gave her another doll to play with. John continued on to Alistair's room, finding the door was already ajar. He stopped, raised his hand to the door and knocked three times. He heard a grumble from inside and taking that grumble as a sign of entry, he pushed open the door. Stepping inside, he saw Alistair was lying in his bed and he looked impossibly older then he did a week ago.

He looked deathly ill and by the way he was breathing heavily, he was exactly that, but he did look pleased to see him, "John my son, I'm glad you stopped by. I though Kyle might have forgotten I asked to see you. He was always a little forgetful". He nodded his head towards the chair next to the bed and John sat down in it, "You don't look so good". Alistair gave a loud laugh, "No, I don't suppose I do. Dying generally has that affect on people". He gave another little laugh before coughing and clutching his chest in pain. John reached out to help but Alistair quickly waved him down, "There's nothing you can do this time my son. I'm dying. All we can do now is let nature take its course. I didn't know you liked dolls". He pointed at the doll in John's hand and smiling a little, John held it up, "I don't really but Jenifer gave it to me. I couldn't say no". Alistair chuckled and then coughed again, "No, I don't suppose I would have said no if I were in your position. Jenifer's been through a lot for a girl of her age. You should be proud by what you have done for her. You saved her life and found her a new family. Even I would have had trouble convincing anyone to take her and look after her as one of their own. I do hope that someday she'll be able to talk again soon and I'm sure if given enough time, she will". John nodded and couldn't help but feel a little proud of himself. Alistair always made things sound better then they were. It was on of his best qualities and gave people the sense of pride in themselves that they needed. "John, the reason a wanted to speak to you is because I fear this may be out last chance to talk. I know I won't last long. I have a few days at most, maybe less, I don't really know".

John somehow managed to shudder with Alistair noticing as he tired to push the though of Alistair dying out of his mind "Don't say that. You can't die yet. What about the rest of us? We all need you here. You've still got years left and…" John stopped himself from saying anything else, knowing full well how stupid he sounded. Alistair confirmed this with another chuckle and then another painful cough, "That's very kind of you to say my son, very kind indeed, but everyone dies eventually and it's almost my time. I've raised Kyle and Derek like they were my own sons, taught them all they need to know to survive and I know they can look after everyone once I've gone. I've lived with many regrets. So many regrets, but when I look and see the smiles on the faces of the children here, I forget about them all. Lying her now, I don't feel regret, I feel fulfilled, complete. I don't fear death. I'll see my wife again, and my children and my grandchildren. I'll see them all and I welcome it". John was surprised that Alistair would welcome death with open arms like he was, thinking that everyone in this world would cling to life with their every once of being but here was Alistair, dying as an old man and welcoming it.

John didn't know what to say so he lowered his head, making his feelings clear to him Alistair gave a soft laugh, not wanting to endure anymore pain then he already was. "There's no need to feel sorry for me my son. I've lived a long life. I fought in Vietnam and saw a lot of friends die; I got married to a beautiful woman and had a family with her. It might not have turned out as I hoped as a seventeen year old like yourself, but you can't have everything you want in life. Either way, enough about me. You and everyone else can talk about me until your ears bleed after I'm dead. I want to talk you and our Allison". John looked back up slowly, a dreaded look on his face and a dreaded feeling in him. He had hoped to avoid the topic on Allison, already knowing what people were whispering behind his back. They didn't really make an effort to quieten their voices when talking about him and Allison. "What about me and Allison?"

Alistair looked clearly disappointed by the lowly response but shook his shoulders in return, "I meant nothing by it my son. I was only curious. You and she have been spending a lot of time together. She's spent more time with you in the past few weeks or so then she has with anyone else in all the years I've known her. Forgive me for being so blunt, but I'm not the only one who has noticed the way she looks at you and the way her eyes follow you when you walk across the room". Alistair winked and John couldn't help but smile though he tried his best not to, "We're just friends. I've been teaching her how to read and write, that's all, we're just friends". Alistair chuckle again and held his hand to his chest in pain again, "Teaching her to read and write is a noble goal. Not many people are interested or willing to learn to those skills, not anymore. Besides, you're not interested in anyone else are you?" John looked away, stopping himself from saying that he was, knowing that Alistair would not understand, no one would. Not even his mother understood his feelings and he didn't even understand why he had those feelings, why he still did have those feelings, for Cameron. A machine he was supposed to hate, to despise, but a machine he had feelings for, strong feelings.

So strong, he sometimes he felt like his chest could not contain his heart anymore when he saw her or thought about her. "No, I'm not, but me and Allison are just friends". So he would lie, lie again. He hated lying but he needed to lie to survive in this world, needed to hide the real reason he came here, even if that reason was a little tough for John to grasp himself. Alistair, though understanding and would never kill him, would surely banish him from the group to an almost certain death if he knew he was looking for a machine. Kyle and Derek, his father and uncle, he couldn't tell them either. They fought machines their since they were young, fought hard to protect their people and if they knew what John was doing, they would surely kill him for the treachery. He didn't blame them, this was there world and that world had forged and melded them in to the men they were now. They were proud, protective and caring, but they were also quick to anger, aggressive, stubborn and brutal. And he could never tell Allison the truth, despite his feelings for her also. She would hate him of she told her the truth, despise him and possible want to kill him. How can you explain to someone that you're searching for a machine that killed you and took your appearance and then developed feelings for? The answer to that question is simple, you don't, you lie and that was what John had to do, he had to lie and it was killing him inside.

He lied because he had, to, he lied because in this world, telling the whole truth can get you killed. Alistair admitted defeat, though reluctantly. He coughed again, this time harder and he was in a lot of pain, "Look, do you need some painkillers or something. I can get some for you". Alistair shook his head and took seep breaths as the pain slowly subsided, "There's no need to waste things like that on an old man like me my son, but I thank you. You might not know it and many don't see it, but you've got a good heart in you my son, a good heart. I ask you this my son, and I hope you do it. Give that heart to someone you love deeply. That's all I ask as an old man dying in his bed. Find a good woman and give her your heart. Can you do that at least, for me?" John, slightly startled by what Alistair was saying, smiled and nodded his head. "I will". Alistair shook his head and held out his left hand, "Swear it my son. I've seen so many people say break their words, for money, for lust, for hurt, for greed. Swear to me that you will do as I ask". John, again startled by this, took Alistair's hand with his right. "I swear it, I will". Alistair was this time satisfied and nodded his approval, "Thank you my son, thank you". John watched as Alistair lay back down, moving his head across his pillow trying to get comfortable, "I'm glad you don't have a knife around. You might have got me to do a blood oath or something". Alistair laughed and he laughed hard.

The pain must have been worth if for Alistair couldn't keep the smile off his face even as the pain slowly subsided after he stopped laughing, "You've got a sense of humour my son, an admirable trait. I think I better rest now my son. Kyle and Derek will probably lecture me about not getting enough rest if I keep you here any longer then I already have. My adopted sons worry too much for me but that's the way of things. Thank you for your visit and I do hope we can talk again before my time is up, though I do doubt it". John nodded and stood up, saddened by the thought of Alistair's death and the thought of not being able to speak to him. He was like a grandfather to him, someone you could always speak to and confide in. He was a good man and a good man is not who you want to see on his death bed. Making sure he had the doll Jenifer gave him, he turned and made to the door, "Wait, me son, wait a moment". John stopped and turned, waiting for Alistair to catch his breath. "I forgot to ask you, did you find any information about your friend, the one who stole something of your from Katrina before she died, or from anyone at their hide out". John nodded his head and was relived himself that Alistair had asked, though he had to think on his toes to give an answer, "She said they spoke to someone who looked like the guy I'm looking for. But afterwards, she said he headed north". Alistair gave a slow, disappointed shake of his head, "Ah, up north. That's Skynet territory. No one goes there if they want to live more then five minutes. I'm sorry my son, I truly am, but I fear what your looking for is lost now, lost forever". John nodded and took a step back towards the door, "It's alright, I've got everything I need right here". Alistair smiled and John turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. Though he had lied again in having not told Alistair about Catherine and her searching for John Henry, he knew that the search was not over and there was a slight chance that he would get Cameron back. There was only one question running through John's mind as he headed back to his room to catch up on some sleep. In coming here, did Cameron even want to be found?

John don't know how long he slept, he couldn't tell if he had been sleeping for ten minutes, one hour or even ten hours. All he knew is that when he woke up to the sounds of gunfire and screams, they were in trouble. He scrambled out of bed, pulling on both his coat and shoes as quickly as he could. He then grabbed his rifle and ran out the door. He ran to the main room along the short corridor, towards the main room. The screams and gunfire were almost deafening and by the sounds of it, what ever was happening, it wasn't going well. Rushing in to the main room, he ran right in to Kyle, who had a deep gash on his right cheek, which was slowly oozing blood. "What the hell is going on?" Kyle shook his head, clearly both angry and afraid. "It's Burke. We should have moved on, I told Alistair the minute we got back we should move but he waited to wait the usual month or so. I don't know how that bastard survived that machine attack but he's out there with a shit load of men and he's fighting to get in". Kyle nodded his head at the door which in turn led to the corridor towards the main door out in to the tunnels. Derek and others were busy barricading the door with what ever they could, find, be it tables, chairs and even themselves. Burke and his men who at the other side, shouting and howling as they shot and banged hard on the door, which thankfully was made on metal. John also noticed that there were far fewer men by the door then there would have been and knew they had already taken losses. At least six men were missing and thy must have died defending the main door from Burke's assault. Now, only a badly beaten metal door stood between them and what sounded like a horde. Most of the women and children cowered at the back of the room, not knowing if they were safe from the on coming threat.

Derek came limping towards them, "Kyle, That door's not going to hold more then ten minutes. You've got to leave now, Get everyone out, get them out and find somewhere safe. I'll stay back here and hold those bastards off. Make sure the back door's clear". Kyle nodded and did what his brother told him, running fast out of the room and towards the back of the hideout. John didn't have the faintest idea what Derek meant by a back door, since to his knowledge, there was only one way in or out of the old hotel basement and that was the main door they were guarding. "John, stop day dreaming and help us out here". Derek's demand hit John hard and snapping out of his trance, he grabbed one end of a nearby table while Derek grabbed the other and they dragged the table across the room and forced it against the barricade at the door. He could hear the shouts of Burke and his men clearly now. They were screaming to get in, shouting insult after insult. There was a continuous clanging sound against the door, mostly from Burke's men using the butts of their rifles to bang on the door. John thought they must be saving the rest of their ammo for when they got through the door and what John then heard next conformed that they would most definitely get inside. He heard a softer clang against the door, one that he didn't think Burke and his men wanted him or anyone else to hear. He thought that was why Burke was having his men shouting as loud as they were. John pushed himself as close to the door as he could, almost climbing over the barricade by the door and he listened as hard as he could. He couldn't make out anything really useful over the shouts of Burke and his men, but once and a while in between two shouts, he heard sounds like something clicking in to place and he recognised it as he was taught how to make them. He quickly pulled back and turned to Derek, who had been watching his with confusion and said one word, "Bomb". Derek rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Shit! That's all we need".

John helped move another two tables towards the door but he doubted it would do much if Burke planned to blow the door, which is exactly what he planned on doing. Kyle suddenly reappeared and had a quick heated discussion with his brother. Giving each other one final hug, Kyle ordered everyone to follow him out the back door. Kyle and Derek's plan wasn't one which John liked at all. It was similar to the plan they had executed back at Katrina's hideout. Derek and a few volunteers would stay behind and hold off Burke while the rest of them would escape through the back door. It sounded simple, it always did but as experience had taught John, it never was how it sounded and it never worked our like he hoped it would. John noticed that Allison wasn't with the group that Kyle was now leading out, so he ran to her and Cecelia's room, just as they were coming out of the room, "Come on, we got to go now". Allison nodded and behind her, holding her hand was Cecelia, who despite her blindness, looked straight to John, "I know you don't I? You saved my Allison, you saved her". John ignored her and he took Allison by the arm, pulled her to the side.

Max gave a loud growl in John's direction but Allison gave him a stern look and Max switched her focus and began growling at the door. John held out a pistol to her, "Here, take this. It's Burke and I don't want him getting near you and…." He stopped when he noticed Allison was smiling. She looked down to her free hand and John followed her gaze to the same pistol he had given to her a few weeks before hand. "Burke's not getting his hands on me. I promise". John grinned back but they both looked up as the shouts and screams from Burke's men suddenly stopped and they retreated away from the door. "It's a bomb, move now". Allison turned to Cecelia, "We need to go Cecelia. Just keep a hold of my hand and don't let go". Allison led Cecelia through the door, just as the door was blown apart as the bomb exploded. Even Burke must have underestimated the force of the bomb as it took a long while for him and his men to take advantage of the situation. All of them were disorientated by the explosion and two had been killed in the blast. The tables and chairs that had been forced against the door were blown to pieces and thrown everywhere. John slowly got up, his ears ringing and he looked around him. Of the six people who were to remain behind, two had been killed in the blast, while the other three including Derek was groaning as they tried to stand up. John took a stop forwards to help but nearly fell over after a single step and so had to wait like everyone else to regain his composure and for the ringing in his ears to die down. It was then that Alistair appeared and it was the first time John saw him looking furious. He looked like he could just fall over dead any second and he struggled to breath but still managed hold an old fashioned shotgun. John had seen it once or twice in his office and thought of it as only an old relic that Alistair carried around but now, Alistair was wielding it like he must have done as a young man. Alistair walked right past John who was the only one still standing and marched right up to Derek, "You're not going to be much use down there boy, Get up son!"

Derek obediently did, dragging himself up. "All of you, on your feet. We've got women and children, our families to protect, so get on your feet". One by one, the three other men who survived the blast got to their feet and even they were surprised when the first of Burke's men was quickly killed by a shot to the chest with Alistair's shotgun. Alistair fired again, but missed the second man who was right behind the first and he was put down by a combination of Derek and the other three men. Alistair turned back to John and gave his final smile, "It's time for you to go my son. Get them out of here and look after them for me and remember, keep your promise". He nodded over John's shoulder where Allison was waiting and John knew what Alistair intended by the promise he forced John to make. She was waiting with Cecelia and three others who had been left behind in the chaos. John nodded to Alistair who gave John a final pat on the shoulder before turning to join Derek and the others. John barely had time to leave the room before the fire fight started. The screams, gunfire and explosions from thrown grenades followed them as John led the small group out through the back door as quickly as he could.

The passage, which John guessed had been originally built to connect this basement of the hotel to the next, was nothing more then a nearly collapsed tunnel, which John had to lower his head to go through. The walls were badly cracked and there was a lot of water leaking in through them. Their feet splashed the water below them, sending loud echoes down the tunnel. John didn't have the faintest idea where to go once they reached the end, as Kyle and the core of the group were far ahead of them. He hoped that if they moved fast enough, they could catch up with them, but with Cecelia in tow, that was a far off hope. The tunnel eventually came to a fork and John moved to the back of the group as he didn't know which way to go. What worried him more was that the screams and gun fire had stopped and that meant that by some miracle, Derek, Alistair had killed Burke and his men or more likely, Burke had killed them and was now searching for where everyone else had gone and that would lead him right to where they were right now. "Allison, find us the way out of here". John moved to the back of the group, reading himself for Burke and his men to find them, though he knew he didn't have any chance at holding them off if or when they came. He heard Allison whisper from behind him and then he heard Max, who had been sitting beside her began to sniff the ground around them. It didn't take long for Max to pick up the trail and he led the group left.

They moved as quickly as they could until they heard a single set of footsteps coming towards them. They stopped and so did the one person and there was nothing but silence. After a few seconds, Allison turned to him and then nodded towards Max, who wasn't growling or showing any hostility. He realised that Allison meant that the person wasn't a machine or anyone who was hostile towards them. He took a deep breath before speaking, "Who's there, show yourself". The response was a long sigh of relief and Kyle came forwards, "You lot scared the shit out of me. Come on, we've got to go, wait, where's Alistair?" No one answered and the look on Kyle's face was one of pain and anger. He pointed over his shoulder, "Everyone's gone down that way. If you move quickly, you can catch up". He then marched right past them, back towards Burke. John grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks, "Don't do this. You've got people to look after here". Kyle turned on John angrily and John felt a surge of fear at seeing his angry face, "Alistair might not be my real father, but he's as good as my father. Wouldn't you save your own father if you could?" John watched Kyle disappear in to the dark, back in Burke's direction and couldn't believe how ironic Kyle's question was. Would he save his own father if he could? Of course he would. He there was any possibility of saving Kyle from the death he was destined to have, then he would save him, but he knew he could never have that opportunity, it was an impossible dream. But Kyle's words had hit John deeply and without thinking, he followed him back towards the hideout and towards Burke.

He caught up to Kyle quickly enough and Kyle gave him a long look. He was sure Kyle was about to order him to go back but he must have known that John would have refused the order so he said nothing. They reached the hideout again quickly enough and both slowly and carefully made their way inside. Their was no more gunfire, explosions or screams, only the deathly silence that anyone would expect to find in a world like this. The edged through the hideout, taking care to cover each other as they moved through the tight corridors, not finding or hearing anything until they neared the main room of the hideout, where they heard voices. The closer they got, the more evidence of the fight was everywhere. Bullets were lodged in walls and small fires were burning from the explosions and they found the first body of one of the men who stayed behind to hold Burke off. They edged past him and could hear clearly who was talking and it was Burke, "Tell me, where did they go?" Edging forwards, Kyle and John managed to peer inside. Burke was pacing the main room slowly and all his men were standing around watching him. Some of them looked angry; others nervous and a few should no emotion at all. Alistair was still alive, but he was on his knees in the centre of the room, breathing heavily. He was wounded, his right hand clasped over his left arm where he'd been hit. "Where the fuck did those bastards go Alistair? Tell me now, or I swear, I'll make you suffer".

John wanted to run in there, to save him but knew he'd be killed before he took two steps and that fact kept both him and Kyle at the door. Burke was asking where they had all gone which meant he must have already searched the hideout and not found the back door. It had been hidden and blocked by an old bookcase which had been moved so everyone could escape, but the bookcase had blocked the view of the back door from the rest of the room so Burke and his men obviously didn't search the rooms thoroughly. Burke was growing impatient, quickening his pacing of the room before grabbing Alistair by the throat, "TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!" Alistair gasped for air and held on for a long time before letting go. His men laughed between themselves, amused by what they were seeing. "You can't make me suffer any more then you already have Burke". Burke's men howled with laughter at the feeble response but John knew it wasn't feeble. He saw Alistair was crying and John then saw why he was crying and felt like crying himself, for Derek was lying not to far away from him and his eyes were empty. This was now the second time he's seen his uncle killed and this time hurt John just as much as the first. Kyle had also seen his brother's body and John grabbed him before he ran in there looking for revenge. He couldn't bear to loose both his father and uncle in the same day. Kyle tired to wrestle free from John's grip but John wasn't going to let him go and pulled him back. They were making so much notice; it was a wonder that Burke and his men didn't hear them. "Don't do anything stupid. Getting yourself killed won't bring him back". He whispered in to Kyle's ear and Kyle's struggle lessened and he slit down to the floor, where he sat still and silent

John didn't know what else to say so he peered back in to the room. Burke pulled out a pistol, a silver desert eagle. "This is your last chance old man, tell me where they went and I might let the kids live". Alistair remained defiant and shook his head, "You've taken everything form me after I gave you everything I could. Just do what you came here to do. You know I'll never betray them". Burke grasped the end of his desert eagle and swung it hard against Alistair's head. The blow sent Alistair to the ground, where he remained still. He was still alive, but John could do nothing to help. Burke took hold of his desert eagle and then pressed it against Alistair's skull. "Fine, have it your way. Before I kill you, I want you to know this. I've already killed one of your sons and I'm goanna kill the other. I'm goanna find them all, I'm goanna kill the men, kill the children, rape the women and only once I've had my fun with them, kill them as well". Burke then spat on Alistair's face and his men howled with laughter. John watched Alistair as he turned on the ground and he could feel his eyes fill with water as the man he admired crawled like an animal across the ground. He wanted to help him, to save him but he could do nothing but get himself killed in the process and he was no use to anybody if he was dead. Suddenly, Alistair turned himself and stared right at John like he had known all along that he was there. Despite the pain he was in, he managed to smile and tried to speak, but he never got the chance. A single shot sounded and Alistair fell dead.

Kyle looked up and the anger and pain on his face and indescribable. His brother and father were now both dead and if John wanted to stop him going for revenge, he wouldn't have been able to. Now however, John was also going for revenge. His uncle was dead and he just witnessed the man he hated more then anyone he had ever hated execute in cold blood the man who took him in and gave him a home and a chance at survival. John and Kyle stormed in to the room; rifle's raised and ready to kill every single man in the room. John wanted Burke dead; more then he wanted anyone dead, he wanted Burke dead. His hatred of Skynet and the life that was forced on him was nothing compared to his hatred of Burke. But as they came in to view of Burke and his men, John saw that he and Kyle had made the worst mistake they had made so far. Kyle hadn't seen it, Burke hadn't seen it and none of his men had seen it. All their attention was focussed on Alistair's execution. Not even a single slaver had the common sense to keep guard. Behind them, in the door way was a machine, a T eight hundred and its large mini gun was already aimed. The trigger was pulled, bullets flew, screams sounded and John fell to the floor to escape the barrage of bullets. Kyle hadn't seen the machine and John didn't think he even heard the bullets and screams as his anger surged through him. But when he eventually did hear the bullets flying and the slavers screams, he dived to the floor but not fast enough and he was stuck twice, once in the shoulder and one once in the arm. Neither was fatal but from the wounds a lot of blood flowed and Kyle didn't have time to bandage them. They both turned and crawled as fast as they could back through the door.

Only a handful of the slavers escaped the onslaught of that single machine, fleeing through the many doors which led off from the main room but most ran in to rooms which were dead ends where they were trapped and would be easily cut down. At least half of the slavers had been cut down within seconds and more had been cut down trying to run. None of them fought back, they knew not to try. John and Kyle managed to get threw the door and carried on crawling along the corridor until they were sure they were clear of the door. Then they got up and because he was wounded, Kyle was slower then usual so John made Kyle put his arm over his shoulder and forced them forwards, back towards the back door to the hideout. Then something else happened which worsened the situation. A wall behind them began to buckle and they stopped to watch as cracks showed and they began to grow larger. They were so surprised by what they were seeing; they couldn't tear their eyes away until a metal arm punched its way through the wall. A machine was smashing its way through the wall and it wasn't the only one doing so. The outer walls of the hideout were being smashed apart by machines and once inside, they made short work of the remaining slavers, cutting them down with no mercy. John couldn't think of anything more terrifying then what was happening around them. The machines were like demons coming out of the walls and they dark red eyes made them even more menacing.

The sight was enough to terrify him and would have terrified anyone who saw such a sight. John thought it lucky that Burke had come and driven them out of the hideout because if he hadn't, the machines would have surrounded, trapped and slaughtered around fifty surprised and terrified people, mostly women and children with ease. John and Kyle ran again, not daring to look behind them. By some sort of miracle, the machines didn't notice them and they made it to the final room, where they moved around the bookcase and in to the corridor. John stopped and leaving Kyle to lean against the wall, went back and moved the bookcase as far as he could back to cover the door. The machines could smash through it with no trouble but they would make enough noise for them to hear it which would give them a warming if the machines found their escape rout. Again, John helped Kyle and they again ran as fast as they could.

Before they had taken thirty steps, a loud crash sounded behind them, a crash of wood and they knew they had been found. The machines were coming for them and John feared they weren't moving fast enough. He was wrong about the machines but right about not moving fast enough. John heard someone following them and he stopped and aimed his rifle, only for that person to drive and crash in to the both of them. John, taken aback by the blow, dropped his rifle as he hit the ground. He looked up at the person who attacked them and despite the dark, it was clear that it was Burke. He was both furious and somehow happy. He was furious because not too long ago, he had over a hundred men to command, but they were now all dead but despite that, he had killed two men he despised, Derek and Alistair. Now, he had caught up with two more he wanted nothing more then to kill, Kyle and John. Burke had the advantage as he was on his feet and John wasn't. He raised his foot and stamped down hard on John's stomach before he could react. John felt the blow and the pain that followed was intense. Burke kicked him a second time and John wondered why Kyle was not helping him and saw that Kyle was groaning on the floor near him, clutching his head with a bloody right hand. He had hit his head hard against the wall in the fall and though he tried to get up and attack Burke, he just couldn't do it. Burke knew that and focussed his attention on John.

He raised his foot again for a third time, but John wasn't helpless as Burke thought. His anger boiled at the deaths of Derek and Alistair and he timing it perfectly, he swung his leg hard across the floor, catching Burke's other leg and sending him to the floor. John got up quickly as Burke did the same, "You little shit, you bastard. I'll fucking kill you!" John had his pistol waiting in his coat pocket, but his anger and hate made him leave it where it was and he raised his fists, "You can try!" Burke spat at the floor and then threw a punch at John, who avoided it. John responded with a quick jab to Burke's face as he pulled back and he caught his broken nose with the jab. Burke howled in pain, his own anger growing. Burke attacked again and this time, John took the whole force of the punch on the side of the face, nearly sending him to the ground. Burke punched him again on the other side of the face and John, despite feeling dazed, responded with his own punches. He was being reckless and stupid in fighting Burke like this, a man who had experience in hand to hand fighting and who was also bigger and a lot stronger then him. John however, did have his training and wasn't entirely defenceless. Burke was taken aback by John's refusal to go down easy and he knew he had to make more of an effort to put him down. Somehow, in the dark and the tight space of the tunnel, they fought each other, both turning each others faces in to a bruised mess through punches and kicks, though John got the worse of it. He scored some good hits on Burke, aiming for his nose to cause the maximum amount of pain, wanting Burke to suffer for what he had done, but Burke's strength wore him down and one final punch threw John to the floor again.

Kyle tired to aim his rifle up at Burke, but his aim was completely off as he couldn't focus his eyes and Burke kicked his rifle away before kicking Kyle in the stomach. Burke was laughing the while time, enjoying the fight. Though he could have ended it there and then, he grabbed John by the scuff and dragged him up and pushed him hard against the wall. There, he held his hand across John's throat. "You know how to fight; I'll give you that at least". He raised his other hand to his lip, where John had managed to hit him hard and draw blood. He grinned and then spat the blood in to John's face. "Allison's one of a kind isn't she? John, who was in so much pain, looked up in fury, knowing what was about to come and then Burke turned nasty and made his final boast, "I'm going to make her moan, I'm going to make her groan, I'm going to make her scream. I'm going to make her in to nothing more the whore and once I'm done with her, once she's been forced by a real man. I won't need to force her anymore; she'll come to be willingly. She'll beg me to take her, she'll beg me to do it and…." John had heard enough. His fury, already fuelled by Burke killed Derek and Alistair, and now with Burke's latest threat against Allison, John's fury exploded. He threw Burke off his and punched Burke hard and then again and again. Burke fought back but this time, John was on top. Burke couldn't compete with John's anger and John beat him back. "I'LL NEVER LET YOU TOUCH HER, NEVER! I'LL KILL YOU BEFORE YOU DO". Burke was taken aback by John's fury and his smirk was wiped from his face. He lunged at John a final time and John stepped out of the way and stamped his foot hard down on Burke's knee. Burke screamed as his knee was smashed and leg was broken, he toppled to the floor. John, his face bloodiest and his body aching, grabbed his rifle and helped Kyle to his feet. Kyle's face was red with blood and he struggled to keep his balance, but he knew what had happened and he looked down at Burke, nothing but satisfaction on his face. "Let's get out of here, but first, kill the bastard". John went back to Burke, who was in too much pain to have heard what they said and then he saw John with his rifle and Burke just stared at him and then his bloody and battered face smirked, "you won't do it, you don't have the balls". H half laughed and half cried out in pain. John aimed for his head and pressed on the trigger. All he needed to do was push a little more and Burke would be dead. He looked in to Burke's eyes and Burke didn't betray any fear and was confident in his words that John wouldn't do it, that he wouldn't pull the trigger. And he was right.

John somehow just then could see himself in his mind. He was angry, he was furious and he absolutely hated to the very core the man he had at his mercy, but when he saw himself in his mind, he didn't like what he could see, he hated what he saw. He saw himself holding a rifle to the head of a defenceless man, a helpless man. He asked himself, was that John Connor? Does John Connor, the one person who was meant to save the Human race from extinction and from Skynet and it's machines, execute a helpless man in cold blood? No, he decided, no. He wouldn't do it. He was John Connor, not a cold blooded murderer. As the future leader of the human resistance, he might have to make decisions like this, including executions, but he wasn't that John Connor, not yet. Machines murdered Humans without mercy; he'd seen it happen plenty of times since coming to this future. Men, women and children were all targets of the machines. They killed without mercy and John wasn't an emotionless machine who murder's everyone they can find, he was Human and he wasn't like them. He lowered his rifle and Burke smiled in satisfaction. "I knew you couldn't do it, you coward!" Burke laughed again and John took a step back and the metal footsteps he heard coming towards them. The machines had finished searching the hideout and had finished with the slavers and now drawn, by their fight and Burke's screams of pain, they were coming. "I'm not like you Burke; I will never be like you. And I'm not like them". He pointed up and the smile on Burke's face vanished quickly as he heard the footsteps. John turned back to Kyle, who was watching him and John forced Kyle's arm over his shoulder again before turning again to Burke. "I don't kill people in cold blood. And Alistair wouldn't want me to do this so I won't kill you Burke. I'll let them do it for me". For the first and only time, John saw the fear on Burke's face and the fear on Burke's face was the last he ever saw of him. John and Kyle turned away and hurried down the tunnel. Burke called after them, "JOHN! KYLE! KILL ME PLEASE, DON'T LEAVE ME TO THEM. COME BACK AND FINISH ME OFF. YOU BASTARDS, COME BACK, KILL ME, KILL ME!" They both ignored his pleas and they kept going as fast as they could, both of them aching from head to toe. Burke then screamed and machine fired its mini gun for a brief moment and Burke was no more. The man who had betrayed them, who had killed Derek and executed Alistair in cold blood, was now dead.

They ran now and they ran fast because the machines weren't far behind them. They would have ran faster but John was aching all over after his fight with Burke, his face having taken the brunt of his assault and Kyle wasn't any better with two bullet wounds and a serious blow to the head. Both were bloody and battered, but they were alive, for now at least. They kept moving, ignoring the aches and pains that plagued them both. They took the left fork when they reached it and followed the corridor. John was thankful that they didn't run tight in to the small group they had left behind, including Allison. They had done as they were told and followed the corridor to join the rest of the group who were hopefully waiting for them. He dared to look over his shoulder and couldn't see any machines following them and was able to breath easy eventually. He slowed down and so did Kyle and they stopped to try and catch their breath. Kyle couldn't speak. He tried to stop himself from crying, but his tears won out and they silently fell down his cheeks. His brother and father were dead and he was heartbroken. John ignored that and noticed that Kyle was covered in a lot of blood and so pulled him down so he could get in to his bag. Kyle didn't protest as John took out a large flashlight and lit it so he could see what he was doing. Kyle had packed some of the medical supplies they had collected before hand and now John used them to fix Kyle up as best he could. He pulled both bullets out of his wounds and Kyle gasped and groaned in pain, trying his best not to scream out loud and draw any machines to them. John then did a bad job at patching him up with what bandages he found. The wounds needed stitching, but John didn't have any intention to do that now.

He needed better light then what the flashlight gave. Kyle seemed satisfied with his work and stood up once John was finished, moving his right arm where he had been hit twice. He closed his eyes as he moved his arm, the pain obvious but he nodded his head to show it was better, "Thanks, let's go". They walked for what seemed like hours in the dark, but only minutes had past. They dragged their feet, their bodies aching and upon spotting a small group of people ahead of them, but that group numbered only five people, not the fifty that were supposed to be there. John could see Kyle looked concerned as well and he picked up his pace. The five people suddenly went still when they heard them approach and went silent. They didn't know who they were until Max ran to John, jumped up and then tried to lick the blood off his face. Allison approached them through the dark and she moved to hug John, but when she saw him, she stopped and stared open mouthed at him, "John, your face, what happened?" She reached out to touch the large bruise that John knew he had on his right cheek and he shook slightly at the pain of her touch, "Burke caught us".

He quickly spoke and then took Allison's hand away from his face as it hurt him. Allison gave a soft smile and looked over his shoulder and upon only seeing Kyle, her smile disappeared, "Alistair?" John shook his head and she stared at him with a look of disbelief at first but she knew he told the truth. Her saddened look told it's own story and she stepped forwards and John opened his arms to her and they stood in silence in each other's embrace while Kyle, despite his wounds and what had happened, was again his old self and was asking the remaining four people where the others had gone. They discovered that Allison and the other four had arrived at the rendezvous point to find everyone had already left without a trace. John guessed they had panicked due to the situation they were in and fled without waiting for them to catch up. John shuddered when he realised that the girl he had befriended Jessica, would be part of that group and he hoped that she would be alright. She could be dead for all he knew, along with all the others or they could have found a safe haven somewhere. There was no way and no chance to find out however, for the machines had followed them and they were coming to finish them off. Allison was the first to see them. Max was sitting by him and Allison, whining for attention but his winning was replaced by growls and Allison looked over John's shoulder and she looked terrified. John turned and he couldn't see the machines themselves, but he did see numerous sets of red eyes making their way closer through the dark. "Time to go".

Everyone heard him speak and they all turned and Kyle and Cecelia were the only one's who didn't look scared. Kyle was determined to save what so few people were left and Cecelia didn't know what was going on since she was blind. Allison grabbed a hold of Max's collar to stop him running at the machine's which he was about to do and he barked loudly in protest. Kyle set off again, this time leading only five people to safety instead of the fifty he had hoped. John led Cecelia by the arm since Allison was fighting to keep Max with them, who was more determined then ever to run at the machines and was fighting hard to escape from Allison's grip but she had a firm hold of him. The lead machine began to fire at them, but its mini gun was inaccurate and they ran around a corner without anyone being hit. John fired blindly behind him for a few moments, but stopped after remembering he was jut wasting much needed ammunition. Suddenly, John found himself in a large tunnel and he looked around. He hit something hard and looked down to see tracks, railroad tracks and he realised they were in the LA subway. The tunnel was largely destroyed and large tracks of the tracks were buried under the rubble. Not only that, but most of the tunnel seemed to be under water. Water appeared to be flowing like a stream through a large whole in the ceiling and the walls were damp and covered in moss and mould. The walls and ceiling were buckled badly in many places and it wouldn't take much to bring the tunnel down on top of them all. John knew and so did Kyle, they had walked right in to a death trap, with no clear way out and machine's closing in. They were standing on what appeared to be the only dry ground nearby and there also appeared to be no where to go. They couldn't go back as the machines were approaching that way so they had only one choice and that choice meant they were getting wet. Kyle looked to John as if looking for a go ahead and John quickly nodded, knowing that they didn't have a choice. "Everyone, quickly, head for the train!"

There was a subway train about a hundred metres ahead of them, tipped in it's side and half buried in the rubble, but it was the only thing that they could see in the dark. John put on foot in the water and felt how cold it was. He then quickly turned around and grabbed Allison by the arm before she stepped in herself, "Cecelia can't walk in this". Allison looked around to Cecelia, who had a hold on Allison's arm for guidance. She was already breathless and tired and it was obvious she was in a bad way. She turned back to John, not knowing what to do. "I'll carry her. Take this". He handed his rifle to Allison and John moved behind Cecelia. "Cecelia, the water's to cold for you. I need to carry you". She hesitated by she bowed down to Allison's plea for her to allow John to carry her and John picked Cecelia up, who was lighter then he expected and he waded through the water as fast as he could and Allison followed. They all underestimated how deep the water was. Within seconds, the water was up to their knees and it continued to rise. Max was now swimming and though he tried to turn around to attack the machines, Allison wouldn't let him. The machines followed them in to the tunnel and it wasn't just T eight hundreds. Two drones were with them and they immediately flew at them, readying to fire the small rockets they both had. Kyle fired at and destroyed the first drone, which blew up midair and its remains landed in the water with a splash. The second however, fired its rockets and they all ducked as the rockets flew right over them. The rockets veered up and stuck the ceiling and the explosion, though small, was enough to doom them all. The already unstable tunnel shook and then collapsed. Large chunks of rock fell from above and splashed in to the water all around them. Max barked loudly, everyone cried out or screamed. John saw the final drone being hit by falling rubble and both the machine and the rubble crashed down in to the water. The T eight hundreds stopped advancing after them and John didn't see what happened to them. They were either buried under the rubble or they left them to die, but John bet that they left them to die. The tunnel was less damaged where they were and they must have predicated that they were all dead and simply left. John saw a large chunk falling directly above them and he was forced to dive forwards to save himself and Cecilia. Even when the commotion was over, no one dared say a word or move in fear the tunnel would collapse even more.

Only Max made any sound as he swam in the water and he whined loudly. They were in complete darkness now; no one could see a thing. John tired to start the light on the end of his rifle, but the light wouldn't work due to it being in the water. "Everyone stay where they are!" Kyle called out and John heard him groan in pain as Kyle fought to take his bag off and his wounds ached. Suddenly, a bright light shined from Kyle's flashlight and they could see around them. Everyone was there, still alive but they were all now drenched from head to toe. Like John, they had been forced to dive under the water and now they were all shivering due to the cold, but they were still alive. The water however, had now risen and came up to their chests. Cecelia was the smallest in the group and it came up to her neck.

They were completely trapped now, with no way out that anyone could see. Kyle turned the flashlight to the train and jumped up briefly to look inside, "In there, everyone get in there. Get out of the water, its dry there". One by one, they made their way forwards and they climbed in to the train. Kyle used the flashlight to peer down the train and then turned to everyone else. "I'm goanna see if there's a way out, stay here". He handed John his larger flashlight and used the smaller light on his rifle to light the way. John looked to Allison for his rifle, but she had lost it in the collapse. John didn't care about that though, as he only cared that Allison was safe. They waited patently for Kyle, he returned after only a minute and all hope of escape disappeared when he kicked the side of the train in frustration. He caught John's eye and shook his head. There was no way out, they were trapped.

John didn't know how long had passed as they sat there. The three other survivors of the group, a man and two women who John learned from listening to what they were saying where all siblings. They argued on how long their food and water would last and John shook his head, knowing they would die of hypothermia long before hunger or thirst killed them. Kyle sat alone, his defeated face telling its own story. He had lost his father and brother to Burke, he sat with only six of the fifty or so people who he was now supposed to look after and now they were trapped with no chance of escape. His skin was pale white and his wounds John knew were now infected, but he didn't do anything about them. He just sat there, a defeated man. John turned his attention to Allison and Cecelia, who were both hugging each other tightly in an effort to stay warm. Cecelia, her milk white eyes were opened and despite her being blind, John felt like she could see him and she whispered something in to Allison's ear, who then turned to him, "John, can you stay with her, keep her warm". He nodded and took Allison's place while she went to Kyle to look through the medical supplies, though he didn't know what for. Cecelia clasped her arms around him with surprising strength and she spoke to him in nothing more then a whisper, "You shouldn't have come here, you shouldn't have come. But you're here now and I need you to take Allison with you. She's a good girl; she's always looked after me. She's a good girl. Please take her with you, I beg you".

John didn't know what she was talking about. Take Allison where? They were trapped underground and they were slowly freezing to death. And Cecelia had repeated to same words she had spoken to him the first time they had met. She told him that he shouldn't have come here and though he wasn't sure and it was close to imposable, he thought she knew that he had came from the past to the future. "Promise me, look after Allison, she's a good girl, please!" John nodded his head quickly when he heard Allison's footsteps as she returned. "I promise", he whispered back and he stepped back to let Allison take his place again. She had returned empty handed and what ever Cecelia had asked for, Kyle didn't have in his bag though John now guessed that Cecelia had just sent Allison away so she could talk to him. Max was sitting by Cecelia and pinned to Allison for attention but her attention was on Cecelia who was shaking and now whispering in to her ear again. John clapped his hands and Max came to him and John stroked his wet fur. He just sat silently next to him. After a while, John felt himself becoming sleepy but he knew it was the hypothermia taking his toll on him, as it was with everyone else. Then he heard what he dreaded to hear, Allison was crying. He looked up and saw Cecelia's arms, which were once clasped around Allison's back were now hanging motionless behind her. Standing up, he approached them and placed his hand on Allison's shoulder, "Allison, come on".She shook her head and cried louder, not wanting to believe she was dead, "I thought she was just sleeping. Please wake up Cecelia, please wake up".

John carefully pulled Allison away from Cecelia, whose body remained still and he moved her to sit by Max. John then went back to Cecelia and he laid her down and closed her eyes. He wanted to cover her body and he received Kyle's blanket from his bag and laid it over her body. Sitting back down by Allison, he opened his arms and she fell in to his embrace and cried in to his chest, now alone in the world after losing the closest person she had to family. They were all soon loosing their fight to stay awake. They were all shivering uncontrollable and the light from their flashlights were getting dimmer with every passing minute. John had taken off his coat and wrapped both himself and Allison within it but it didn't seem to help in warming up either of them. She clung tightly to him and he to her, wanting her to know that she wasn't alone but he could think of no words of comfort for her. He feared she might have succumbed to hypothermia more then once but then he felt her shiver again and he was grateful for that and it gave him some faint hope that some miracle would save them. The hope for that miracle disappeared completely when the last flashlight died and the only indication that anyone else was still alive was their shivering and gasps for breath. He heard a distant rumbling suddenly and he thought he must have just been hearing things, but then he heard it again and then again. He knew he wasn't hearing things since Allison sat up from him to listen. Her cold hand touched his and he took and held it firmly as the rumbling out louder and louder. "What the hell is that?" one of the women said and the other unhelpfully said, "It's the machines, their coming for us". But she was right for Max began to growl and then bark. John couldn't see but he heard a rifle prime and knew Kyle, where ever he was now, was getting ready to fight, though any resistance now was more or less useless. John didn't bother going for his pistol and Allison didn't bother going for hers. They both assumed that the T eight hundreds hadn't left them for dead and were coming to finish the job. They just sat together, waiting for the end to come. But then, completely and unexpectedly, John's miracle came.

The rumbling continued to get louder and louder and they heard splashes and rubble began to fall in to the water. The wall where the machines were coming began to buckle and then, the room lit up as a large whole appeared in the wall outside the train carriage. John stood up and waited for the machine to gun him down but the machine by the door wasn't armed and didn't show any hostility. Catherine Weaver stepped through the gap she had made. What surprised John was the look of relief that came across her face when she saw him. Catherine stepped in to the water and responded to Max's angry barks with an angry look and Max went silent and hid behind one of the train carriage chairs. "I think John that we should get you all out of here as quickly as possible". She had taken note of their condition with a quick glance and a concerned look replaced her relieved one. John nodded, but before he could move, he saw a second figure come through the gap Catherine had made and John stared at him with a mixture of hate and relief himself. He was staring at none other than John Henry.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 - Revelations

John's mind was too numb to keep a single thought in his head for more then five seconds. He was staring at John Henry, the sole reason he had come to the future. He came to find him and take Cameron back from him and though he was unable to conduct the search, Catherine had done it for him and here they now, both staring at one another with opposite looks on their faces. John Henry smiled while John was angry, wanting to tear the machine apart with his bare hands and take Cameron's chip back from the it's remains. He had no strength to do that however, hypothermia having taken its toll on all of them. Catherine was silent as she led them all in to the ice cold water again and one by one, they climbed out at the other side and dragged themselves through the gap Catherine had made. John took his time to help Allison climb up and she held on to him tightly as they moved. No one questioned who Catherine and John Henry were, no one wanted to.

All they cared about now was finding warmth. Even Kyle for now remained unresponsive. He was pale white, more so than anyone else due to his wounds and like everyone else, seemed to go with the flow, too cold to even question who Catherine and John Henry were. John Henry held two flashlights, one in each hand and held both up to light their way. He led them to a service tunnel that ran parallel to the subway tracks and stopped to wait for everyone to get through. Catherine brought up the rear and ignored Max's angry taunts as she looked down both ends of the corridor and waited until she was satisfied there were no machines nearby. She then turned to the group she now led, "I know you're all cold, but if you follow me a little further, there is a safe house nearby. There's food, water, warmth and dry blankets, clothes and its safe for us all there. We must hurry". John opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out as he shivered so much.

He was about to say 'No where is ever safe' one of the family motto's. Catherine waited for a response and didn't receive any for the silent and cold group. So she turned and Kyle finally spoke, "Wait, who are you? You don't expect us to just follow you on a whim. I'm in charge here". John felt sorry for Kyle then. He was right of course but he couldn't back up his stance of being in charge. Everyone was too cold to argue with Catherine and the prospect of food, water and much need warmth was too tempting. Catherine stared at Kyle for a long moment before replying, "My name Is Catherine, and if you have any desire to live through the night and see tomorrow, then I'd advise you all to follow me. However, if you wish, you can stay here and take your chances with the machines that are searching all these tunnels for you as we speak". Kyle stared back and he opened his mouth to argue but he had nothing left to say of give and so nodded his head in defeat, "Lead on then". Catherine gave him a slight nod before leading the way. Still, nervous, no one immediately followed her and they only did so after John made the first move. John Henry waited quietly for them to leave so he could follow behind. He smiled at John but he didn't return that smile. He was still furious and was determined that when Allison was safe, he would confront him. He wouldn't be satisfied until Cameron's chip was safe again in his hands.

They didn't walk far and even if they knew how far they did go, there was no way of telling. John was having trouble keeping himself on his feet, as well as Allison who gripped his arm with her shaking hands. John looked at her and could see tears silently falling down her pale white cheeks, her face full of heartbreak. He moved her hand down it to his and gently squeezed it. She responded with a squeeze of her own but her face remained unchanged. Catherine led them out of the service tunnel and up to the surface through what was left of a subway station. She stopped briefly to make sure there were no machines nearby and quickly led them across the ruined street outside and then down back underground again. Catherine led them to a small old store, long having collapsed in on it's self. All of the food that had once been sold here had long ago been picked up by those trying to survive of left to rot under the rubble where the rats ate it. The back of the store however, was still intact and that's where Catherine had set up the safe house she now took them too. The entrance to the basement was there and was hidden behind a large cabinet. Catherine moved it aside and pretended to struggle with it.

She looked to John Henry and raised her eye brows and John Henry took a long time to take the hint and play along with the ruse before going forward to help her. They pretended to struggle to move it and the cabinet and once there was a large enough gap, Catherine led them down the stairs on the other side to the basement. It was pitch black at first and no one could see a thing. John Henry moved the cabinet back in to place and then used his two flashlights to light the room for everyone to see. There was only a single room in the basement. There were two doors leading off to other rooms, but both had long ago caved in. The room itself was small, having only been used for storage by those who used to own the small shop above. Numerous boxes were piled up against the back wall, all with different food logos on them and despite the fact they were all cold, they all stared at the food as if they had never seen so much in their lives. A large table stood next to the boxes with at least twenty large bottles of clean water. Catherine and John Henry worked quickly to move six large barrels and place them in a circle around the room and then both started a fire in each, which also did well in lighting the room. Everyone crowded around them, holding out their hands over the flames. Kyle swore loudly as he placed his hands to close to the flames and burnt his fingers. The room shook suddenly and a loud rumbling echoed from above them. John recognised the rumbling to be that of an HK tank, one of Skynet's largest and most brutal machines. He instinctively reached for his rifle, only to remember it had been lost in the tunnels. John the noticed Catherine was trying to get his attention and he took a step in her direction, but Allison, still holding on to him, held him back, looking scared.

He turned to her and gave a small smile, "I'm just going to ask her what's going on, alright. I'll be right back". She didn't smile and she looked over his shoulder to Catherine, who looked right back at her. She reluctantly let go of his arm and nodded her head, kneeling down to stroke Max. John felt sorry for Max as well as he knew that Catherine and John Henry were machines and his instinct was to attack them, but he wouldn't do anything without Allison's permission. He was scared and he whined as Allison stroked his wet fur. John walked to Catherine who made sure they couldn't be over heard before speaking, "We need to get you out of here as soon as possible John. You're in more danger then you know". John just stared at her in confusion. They were already in danger; there was a large HK tank outside right now. She noticed his confusion and lowered her voice even further, "Skynet knows you're here. I don't know how, but you were recognised somehow. Skynet's got thousands of machines now searching for you. I can't protect you against all of them, so we must leave the city as soon as you are able". John felt like he was going to be sick and his mind went back to when that day when they were ambushed by Burke and then by machines when leaving Katrina's hideout. He and Kyle had shot down a hunter killer machine and before its power failed, the machine had got a good look at him. He had an uneasy feeling that it had recognised him and now he knew it had. Since Skynet was now searching for him, then Catherine's suggestion of leaving the city was a smart one. He didn't have an army to fight back against Skynet's machines like he would have done if he had not come to the future, so he was on his own. That was a prospect that could make any person sick to their stomach.

"When do we leave?" Catherine looked up to the ceiling as the loud rumbling sound from the HK tank machine began to lessen as it slowly moved away. She looked back down to him, "We leave as soon as we are able. We better wait until everyone here is asleep, then we can slip out". John's eyes widened in surprise, "What do you mean wait until everyone here is asleep?" Catherine just stared at him as if he was mad, "None of them are as important as you are. Only you, I and John Henry can leave, the others must remain here, they must be left behind". John shook his head in disgust, anger surging inside him. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You can't expect me to just abandon them all. I'm not doing that". Catherine looked over his shoulder and John turned to follow her gaze and saw she was looking at Allison. "That girl is not the machine you came here to find John. What ever feelings you may or may not have for her, you must put them aside and save yourself. You are far more important then she is". Shaking his head again, he took a step forwards to Catherine until there was barely a few inches between their faces, and she stood her ground. "That girls name is Allison and that's none of your business. I'm not leaving any of them behind, not one. They come with us, all of them, or our deal, our so called alliance, is off!" Catherine looked suddenly surprised and after a moment, she stepped back and John could see a very small smile on her face, "Very well. I believe you are making a mistake, but I can not allow our alliance to fail, we need each other if we are to both survive this war, so I will abide to your wishes, for now". She again looked behind John in response to another loud growl from Max, "I do advise that we dispose of the dog, for obvious reasons". John shook his head, "The dog stays!" He refused to take away anything more from Allison. She looked angry for a moment and when it became clear that John wouldn't relent, she nodded her head, though reluctantly, "There are further matters that you and I need to discuss, but they can wait until you have rested".

She then nodded her head to John Henry, who nodded in reply and he opened one of the large boxes near him and began taking out clothes. Catherine stood guard by the stairs while everyone else stripped off their wet clothes and put on their new dry ones. Allison and the only other women survivor, were pointed to the darkest part of the room where they could have some privacy and John, as well as the other men, all turned away respectfully. John felt a lot better to be out of the wet clothes and he left them in alone on the floor out of the way, all except his coat which he hung up on some wire to dry. Kyle by this time wasn't doing to well and after putting on his new clothes, he walked to Catherine, who John guessed was to demand answers to who she was, but when he got their, he clasped his hand over his shoulder wound and fell to his knees in pain. Catherine knelt down and touched his forehead, pretending to be checking how hot he was, but John knew she was scanning him, "You've been wounded. You require medical attention". Kyle looked like he was about to protest again as he didn't know who she was, but he passed out and Catherine, keeping her cover and pretending to not have the strength she actually did called for the two other men to carry him. Catherine lay down a blanket and Kyle was lowered on top of it and after looking to John as if hoping he wouldn't stick to his treat of calling off their deal, set to work in treating his wounds properly. His wounds were already badly infected and he had lost even more blood since John had done the poor job in patching him up. Allison returned to John's side, wearing thin trousers and a thick woollen jumper, the same as what John was wearing. Her bare feet were freezing on the cold concrete floor and she looked at a loss on what to do. Tears continued to fall down her cheeks, the loss of the person she thought of as her mother stuck firmly in her mind and it was obvious to him that the loss of Cecelia was tearing her apart.

Catherine ordered John Henry to give everyone food, water and blankets and the machine did just that. When he handed out the blankets to John, he smiled at him again and again, John didn't return the smile. He lowered his voice and whispered, "I want her back". John Henry stared at him for a moment before moving on, both of them knowing it was best to not make a scene in front of everyone. Allison was in the same state as Katrina was when she lost everything she held dear. Cecelia's death, on top of all the other who had died today was too much for Allison to cope with. They sat down together and Allison cried with her head on his shoulder. John wrapped a second blanket around them and that, combined with holding her tight and the nearby fire warmed both of them up. John Henry brought both of them food and water and John gave him another cold look. He tired to get Allison to eat, but she refused to eat much, wanting comfort more then food. John tired to think of words to comfort her but nothing that came in to his head felt right to say and he didn't want to risk upsetting her further. John gave the food she wouldn't eat to Max, who lay down beside her but for the entire time, had kept his eyes on both Catherine and John Henry. He growled every so often and he whined to Allison, but she just stoked his fur to keep him quiet. After a while, John could tell Allison was falling asleep on his shoulder so he moved up and lay her down on the blanket and used the second to cover her. He took care to make sure her feet were covered and she watched him as he took care of her. Once she was covered, he sat down beside her and gave her a reassuring smile, "Everything will be fine, just going to sleep. I'll be here in the morning". Her hand moved from under the blanket and grasped his own hand and she held it tight as she fell asleep. Max, his fur still damp and shivering himself, moved closer to the fire and lay down again, watching over Allison, but still keeping his sharpe eyes on the two machines in the room.

One by one, the other three survivors fell asleep themselves. They were reluctant to do so as they didn't know or trust Catherine and John Henry, but their exhaustion won out over their caution and soon everyone but John was asleep. John did notice that they were all now armed though and guessed that they had taken pistols out of Kyle's bag before going to sleep; though it wouldn't do them much good if the machine's found them. John didn't trust either of them either. Catherine desired to protect both him and John Henry and that was a little reassuring due to her status as a T one thousand and one. He didn't know all her motives as of yet but for now at least, he and her were allies. John Henry on the other hand, John wanted to tear apart with his bare hands. He wanted to ripe him apart, bolt by bolt, piece by piece and he now waited until he was sure everyone was asleep before confronting the machine who took Cameron from him. The only movement in the room came from Catherine, who was still busy with Kyle's wounds. She was slowly stitching his wounds up and was doing the task very slowly. She, as a machine, knew everything she needed to know about the Human body to kill, but to heal, it was the exact opposite of what she was designed to do and she wasn't accustomed to such a task. When she did finish, she covered Kyle with another blanket and walked silently to John. As she approached, Max stood up and growled angrily, standing next to Allison as a shield. John petted Max's head, but he refused to back down and Catherine must have decided it would be best if she kept her distance, as she stopped a little way away. John nodded in Kyle's direction. "Will he live?" Catherine replied with a puzzled look, "I'm sure he will be fine if he survives the night. His wounds weren't serious but the infection was. The antibiotics in his bag were not enough to fully heal the infection, so he must heal on his own. If he's lucky, he'll live. If not, then he will die". She spoke, but quietly enough not to disturb anyone who was sleeping and John nodded at her response, giving his father a long look before again looking towards Catherine.

"I have to be outside. Skynet's machines are relentless in their search for you and I must guard the only way in here. I however, do have one request". She waited for John's response and got it with a quick nod. She in turn nodded to John Henry, who was sitting at the table at the back of the room. "I know that you will speak to him when I am gone, and I know what you will demand from him. All I ask is that you listen to what John Henry has to say before you make any rash decisions. I've told you before that you may save the world, but you can not do it without John Henry". John stared back at her a slowly nodded his head, wanting more then anything for her to leave so he could confront the machine. She did so, heading up the stairs and Max's growl's subsided and he lay back down and fixed his eyes on John Henry again. John gently edged his hand out of Allison's grasp and made sure she was comfortable. She moaned as John moved her arm back under the blanket and he took care to make sure she was warm enough before standing and turning to John Henry, who looked up and watched him approach.

John's first though was to punch the machine, which stood as John neared. This machine was the reason he came here and now he was going to take back what he stole from him. But what happened next was something John did not expect. John Henry held out his hand to John. "Hello, I do not believe we have been introduced. My name is John Henry". John, stopped, more due to the surprise of what had just been said. He didn't speak and he didn't raise his hand to take the machines. John Henry lowered his hand when it was clear John wouldn't accept it. John stared, anger in his face but also surprise. John Henry sounded completely different then he expected. He expected a completely emotionless machine, but what he saw was a machine trying to be polite and even smiling at him. "I want her back!" John Henry stared back, the same old emotionless expression on his face like Cromartie, the previous chip to use the machine's body used. He sat back down, keeping his eyes on John the whole time, "You want who back?" John used all his self restraint to stop himself from punching him in the face. He knew he'd break his wrist in doing so, but he was so angry now, "What do you mean who? You know full well who I mean. Cameron. You took her chip, you took her. What have you done with her you bastard! If you've damaged her in any way, I'll tear you apart!" John voice steadily got louder and louder until he was almost shouting and somehow, no one woke from their sleep. John Henry raised his hand to calm John, "I assure you John, Cameron is perfectly safe. I have not harmed or damaged her in any way and I have no desire in doing do. She has helped me a great deal since I came here. My mother asked you before she left to listen to me so please, sit down and I'll tell you everything you want to know". John was now taken aback, not sure whether to be believe him or not. In one hand, he wanted to destroy this machine in front of him for taking Cameron in the first place and in the other hand; John Henry was willing to talk. Knowing that he wouldn't get anywhere by attacking him, John sat down in a second chair opposite him.

The table was covered in old maps, many of them torn and others were completely unreadable. John recognised some of the maps at first glance. One map was one of the world, one of the United States, another one was the state of California and the others were all of Los Angeles. John Henry turned himself in the chair he was in and held his hands together, giving John the feeling that he was about to be interrogated, except it would be John asking the questions, not John Henry, who waited patiently for John to begin, "Where's Cameron?". Raising his hand, John Henry pointed to the port which was hidden beneath his hair, the port with Cameron's chip, "She is in here, as am I. Both of us are within this chip". John accepted that fact quickly enough but the answer just raised more questions, "Why did you take her?"

He tired to keep his anger from showing but he failed miserably at that, his voice making his anger obvious. John Henry lowered his hand before replying. "I did not take her, that I promise you, John Connor. She offered her chip to me. She gave me a chance to see what I needed to see. She left you a message on the computers before instructing me on how to remove the chip and how to download myself to it. Then I used the machine my mother built with in the basement I was confined in to come here, to this future, to see what I needed to see". John didn't like the answer he was given, but he also knew John Henry spoke the truth, and he didn't like that either. He continued to stare at the machine, who just stared back, his anger lessening but other wise still strong. "And what, did you need to see?" A loud explosion echoed from the distance and both of them look up to the ceiling in the explosions direction before looking back at each other. "I needed to see what my brother was going to do. My mother told me that the main reason for my existence was to fight Skynet, my brother. I didn't understand why I was to fight my own brother, so I came here to see what I needed to see. I needed to see what my brother has done and why I was to fight him. And now I do know. I've seen what my brother has done. I've seen the ruins of the cites, I've seen the graves and I've seen the bodies and I know now that my brother must be stopped. I do not share my brother's desire for the termination of humanity for preserve its own existence. I seek to preserve Humanity's existence but I can not do so alone. I need your help to do it". John was almost horrified by the revelation that Skynet and John Henry were in a sense, brothers. That he didn't expect since he and Sarah went to the Zeira Corporation to destroy him in the first place. He raised his hands up and rubbed his tired eyes, yawning as he tried to take in and understand the new information John Henry had given him. "You are tired John Connor and you need to sleep".

He raised his head quickly, "No, not until you tell me about Cameron. If she's in the chip with you, can I talk to her?" John Henry seemed to think hard on that question and John's hopes rose rapidly until the machine shook his head, shattering his hopes of talking to Cameron again. John Henry again raised his hand and pointed to the chip within his head, "Both myself and Cameron inhabit this chip, but while I am active, she is not. In a sense, she is asleep, but she is safe. If her to be active within this chip again, I would have to leave it". "Then leave it!" John quickly said and John Henry merely gave a smile to that. "And where John Connor, do you expect me to go? I can not simply leave the chip. I will gladly leave the chip and return Cameron back to you once we return to the Zeira Corporation in the past". John nodded his head in response to that but he was still both angry and disappointed by how this was all turning out. He yawned again and knew he needed to rest since they needed to leave as soon as possible. "You should rest John Connor!" John again shook his head and against raised his head, "You said that Cameron has helped you since you came here. If she's asleep, how can she have helped you?". John Henry smiled and nodded, evidently not expecting John to have remembered that detail. "I have access to her memories. I have seen everything she has done, all her actions and her interactions with humans. It has been a fascinating experience to see what she has seen. I have learnt much from her and I am grateful for it. I have learnt how to better interact with Humans, I have learnt how to fight and defend myself which I have had to do on seventeen occasions. I am very grateful to her". So, Cameron had indirectly helped John Henry, but that fact just made John angry again. "You've seen all her memories! You don't have any right to go through all her memories!".

John Henry again smiled and raised his hand to calm John, which was another action that John found surprising. "I did not force my way in to her memory banks John Connor, she allowed me to see them. She knew I needed to learn how to fight and interact with Humans better, so Cameron allowed me to see them to teach me. And I have not seen every memory Cameron has. She has blocked me from seeing certain memories". John was now not only confused, he was also curious. "Which ones?" John Henry just stared again for a moment, giving John a cold feeling he could have done without, but again, John Henry smiled before speaking, "As far as I can tell, all of the memories she has blocked me from seeing, are of you. The conversations you have had and your interactions with each other, she has blocked me from seeing them. She considers these memories to be private, to be between you and her". John's eyes widened and he tired and flailed to stop a small grin forming on his face. John Henry saw the smile but thankfully, he didn't comment on it. John's anger and hate for John Henry seemed to disappear in favour of the feeling he received when he and Cameron tricked Riley's foster family in to believing she was still alive. Cameron had pretended to be Riley and called the house to speak with Riley's foster father. She then spoke to John and using Riley's voice, told him that she loved him. He was confused then by why she said it and if she meant it and was still confused now but he did like it when she had said it.

John yawned again, his eyes now heavy and he looked over to Allison, who was sleeping peacefully with Max watching over her. John Henry now stood and indicated to John to do the same, which he did reluctantly. John Henry then for a second time, held out his hand to John, "Savannah Weaver taught me that to make a promise, I must shake the hand of the man I am making the promise to, so I promise you this John Connor. Once we return to the Zeira Corporation, I will download myself back in to the mainframe computers there and I will return Cameron's chip to you, or if a second chip is provided for me, I will download myself in to that chip and again, I will return Cameron to you". John waited a while before he took John Henry's hand and shook it, wondering if John Henry was being sincere in the promise he was making, but after hearing what John Henry had told him, he started to believe in the machine he had done nothing but hate and want to destroy for so long. John Henry smiled and again sat down, "Thank you John Connor. I'm glad you and I had this opportunity to talk. My mother thought that you would rather try to destroy me rather then listen to what I had to say". John grinned at that, "It crossed my mind". The sound of a door opening and closing sounded and they both turned as Catherine descended the stairs and walked towards them, ignoring an angry growl of protest from Max. Without a word, she raised her hand to John's cheek and briefly touched his skin, "You need to rest. Get some sleep. We can not stay here long before we are found.

I've counted one hundred and sixty six more machines out there. Skynet believed it had killed you at Zeira Corporation with its drone, but now since you've turned up alive and well, Skynet is very paranoid and has panicked. It's bringing in more machines in to the city in their thousands every hour. That's why there are more machines then there normally are. Skynet is taking no chances with you". John was horrified by the number of machines that they were now facing but he liked the idea that the very thought of him being alive could strike such fear and paranoia in to Skynet. "How did you find us anyways? You had no idea where we were". Catherine smiled and pointed towards John's hung up coat, "I've known exactly where you've been since we last met. Look in your right coat pocket". John made his way over to where his coat was hung and went through his pocket. He pulled out the Wizard of Oz book and opened it, to see the pages were now completely unreadable since the ink ran from it due to the water. He dropped the book in to one of the nearby fires, which hissed due to the water but soon the book disappeared as it burned. He again reached in to the pocket and his fingers hit something hard and cold and he pulled out the same coin Catherine had given him, a part of herself that he had forgotten about. The coin was part of Catherine and so it was ice cold to the touch and he even shivered as he held it in his hand. Just as he turned back, he saw Allison's own soaking wet coat on the floor and he hung it up next to his to dry. Walking back to Catherine, he dropped the coin in to her outstretched hand, "This may have been just a small insignificant part of myself, but I have I have used it to keep track of you, like a beacon". John watched as both the coin and Catherine's hand turned in to silver liquid, which disappeared as quickly as it came and her normal hand showed once again. The coin had disappeared, having rejoined the rest of her body. Another more violent explosion sounded above them and Catherine looked up to the ceiling with a concerned glance, "You better get what sleep you can John, we have not got long". John nodded and was about to ask where they were going to go but knowing such questions can wait for later, he walked towards where he had set up his blankets to sleep.

Catherine want back to guard the door, while John Henry took to watching the others sleep, as if fascinated by such an action. John joined Allison by the fire and saw she was awake. She had been woken up by the explosion and her eyes watched John as he lay down on the other side of the barrel. He caught her eye and they stared at each other for a few moments before she moved her blanket up. John hesitated, not knowing whether he should do what she wanted him to do, knowing that it wasn't fair on her but she was upset by Cecelia's death and he couldn't say know. Taking his own two blankets and laying them on top of her, he lay down beside her. She took his hand and rested her head on his shoulder and she feel back to seep quickly, now next to someone who she could trust. John didn't know how long he lay there thinking before he fell asleep. He thought of this day as one of the worst he had ever had. He thought of all those who had died. Derek, his uncle, was dead and from his point of view, it was the second time he had seen him die. Alistair, their leader and one of the only men in this world John had any respect for, had been executed in cold blood. Burke, the man who John hated more then he hated Skynet, he had left to die to the machines, regretting that he didn't do it himself, but also grateful that he didn't become like Burke by walking away from him. John also thought of Kyle, his father, who lay on a nearby table, either dying or recovering from the wounds he had.

He had mixed feelings of him. Kyle may be his biological father, but he wasn't the Kyle Reese who would become his father. He didn't know about his mother for John wasn't around to tell him about her. He wouldn't fall in love with her after seeing the picture that John wasn't there to give him. He wouldn't go back in time to protect her from the machine send to kill her, because the Skynet in this timeline had no need to develop time travel, for John wasn't there to lead the war against the machines. The man on the table wasn't his father, but John had trouble from seeing him as anything else. John also thought of Allison, who now slept silently beside him. With Cecelia's death, she had lost her adoptive mother and the only person who really cared for her. She was now scared and alone, but John quickly realised that she wasn't really alone, because she had him now to look after her. He managed to turn his head just enough to watch her as she slept, her face lit up by the flames from the fire, making her glow. He couldn't help but admire how beautiful she looked. Remembering how he hated it when others watched him sleep, he turned his head away and thought on the person he really wanted to think about, Cameron. He knew she couldn't talk to him or he to her and she probably didn't know they were in the same room as each other, but he had found her. They were in the same room and just knowing she wasn't far away brought John's badly dampened spirits to a whole new high level. He wondered about the memory's she had, the ones that she refused to allow John Henry to see, saying they were private and only between John and herself. He couldn't help but smile at that and he tired to think on what those memories might be before he fell asleep.

When John awoke next, he wasn't sure if he had been asleep for long. Allison was fast asleep beside him, not having moved from the position she fell asleep in at all. Sitting up slowly, the only movement in the room was from Max, who still sat on guard on Allison's other side. Max looked at John for a brief moment before his eyes fell again on John Henry, who still sat in the chair by the table, except instead of watching the others sleep, he was examining the many maps that were on the table. John very slowly edged his way out from under the blankets and away from Allison, who groaned and moved in her sleep due to the cold that followed him leaving her. He quickly covered her again with two of the three blankets and she ceased to move or groan and continued to sleep peacefully. Taking the third blanket, he wrapped it around himself and stood up, catching the attention of John Henry, who looked up from the table. "John, you need to rest. You've only been asleep for three hours and twenty seven minutes. You require at least another four hours". He shook his head, ignoring John Henry's suggestion and walked over to Kyle, who still lay unconscious on the table. He looked just the same as he did when Catherine finished patching up his wounds. John thought he was dead for a moment before seeing that he was still breathing. "Is he going to pull through?" He didn't look up from Kyle but John Henry knew the question was directed at him so he stood and walked to the other side of the table, "My knowledge of Human anatomy is not as extensive as it could be". He closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them and removing his hand. "I'm not one hundred percent certain, but it seems he is fighting off the infections in his wounds. I'm sure he will recover in time". John nodded and felt relived by the news and it showed on his face because John Henry even noticed, "You care about this person?" John looked up with a surprised look as John Henry closed his eyes. He stayed with his eyes closed for a few seconds before opening them again, "Kyle Reese. He's your father". John's eyes widened in panic and he looked back at Kyle to make sure he was asleep and couldn't hear them, "Keep your voice down! How do you know that?" John Henry raised his hand once again and pointed to the chip, "Remember, I have access to most of Cameron's memories". John stared for a long moment before nodding, "Yeah, he is. Just keep it to yourself. He can't know I am. He wouldn't understand. I don't get it sometimes". They left Kyle where he was and both once again took seats at the table again.

John took a bottle of water and took a long drink of water, feeling a little better with every gulp of water. Putting the now empty bottle aside, he turned and looked over at Allison. He could only see her brown hair from behind the fire but he could tell she was still sleeping peacefully. He watched her in silence for a while, remembering how he hated it when others watched him sleep but he couldn't look away until John Henry broke the silence, "You care for her too". John tuned quickly in his chair, nearly falling off, "And how do you know that? What do you know of caring for people?" John Henry smiled at that and that smile made John feel uneasy, "I know a lot about caring for people. Savannah Weaver taught me much and Cameron taught me much more". John stared, not believing what he had just said and John Henry just smiled again, "Cameron understands more then you think she does and she had learnt more then she normally should have done". John again stared, not understanding what had just been said and John Henry then looked up, making it clear he was trying to think of the best way to explain what he wanted to before looking back at John, "Cameron, unlike myself, my mother and Skynet, is not self aware. She has displayed many traits that can go in hand with self awareness, such as her growing understanding of emotions. But where I am bound by the rules that I choose to follow, Cameron is bound by the rules that she is forced to follow, her hard wired programming. My brother build her with the sole intension of ending your life John Connor, and she will always be compelled to kill you as long as that code my brother hard wired in to her chip is there". John, now confused shook his head, "But she tired to kill me before, and she didn't. She gave me the gun back". John Henry nodded and raised his hand for John to let him continue. "Yes, I know. I've seen that memory in great detail. It was a foolish act that to return a gun to her, but it was a brave one as well. What she did next was also brave on her part. She enforced an override on to Skynet's order to kill you to save you from herself and you might have not known it at the time that was a big step for her. It was her first step towards her own self awareness. However, the override was only a temporary solution. Skynet's order to kill you is still buried within her chip and she cannot delete or tamper with it in any way. No matter how much she grows herself, she will never become self aware with my brothers programming in place. She is just as trapped as I was within the basement of Zeira Corporation". John held his head in his hands, remembering the moment he was at Cameron's mercy. He had given her his gun and left himself defenceless and he remembered the surge of fear and regret when she looked like she would turn the gun on him, but he also remembered the relief when she gave the gun back, promising not to kill him. "What about before that, when I took the chip out".

John Henry eyes seemed to widen as he smiled, "You are referring to her declaration of love to you. I don't know if she meant what she said, but I do know that she was scared. I do not know how to describe it as I have never felt the emotion myself, but she was scared, terrified even. It was her first time she had felt an emotion with such force. She panicked and may have said what she did to try and stop you, but I can not be sure if that is the case. She may have meant what she said, she may have not. You will have to ask her yourself". John nodded again, but John Henry continued, "Human emotion is something that most machines will never understand. My brother will never understand it and I have trouble understanding much of it. But Cameron knows much about emotions. She knows they are unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, and sometimes unbearable and for a machine such as herself, that is a terrifying experience. For a machine who has never felt emotions before and then to be suddenly stuck by them, it's hard to cope with. She has experienced and felt emotions more and more since that say she nearly killed you. The longer she feels them, the more intense they become, but she will never be able to experience her emotions freely as long as Skynet's programming is in place". John now looked up, both wanting to know and not wanting to know what they were, but his curiosity won out, "Which ones? Which emotions". John Henry raised his hand and his fingers to count them, "Every one of them. But she has experienced fear, hate, loneliness, empathy and jealousy the most". John nodded and rubbed his tired eyes with his hands, before looking again at John Henry, "Jealousy. Was that because of Riley?" John Henry's nod confirmed that and answered a lot of questions about Cameron's attitude towards himself and Riley before she died. John turned away from John Henry, and held his head in his hands, again thinking about what he has just learnt. "

Cameron was trapped due to Skynet's programming, so he got a sudden urge to free her from it. "Can you remove the code?" John Henry stared, his eyes again widening, "Which code?" John rolled his eyes, "Skynet's code. You said you and Skynet are brothers, so you must know some of what Skynet can do. You can remove that hard code from Cameron's chip. She won't want to kill me anymore and she can become self aware!" John Henry looked like he had never considered such an option and thought for a long time, for so long that John found himself watching Allison sleep again without realising it. "I'm not sure if I am able to do that. I can not do anything here while I am in the chip with Cameron like this. Once we get back to the Zeira Corporation, I will see what I can do but I can not promise anything on this matter. I am merely a guest in this chip; I have no right to tamper with it". John wanted to argue some more, wanting to make John Henry promise him again, but not in the mood. He nodded in reply and both he and John Henry looked up as Catherine descended the stairs and gave John a harsh look. "You should be asleep". John shook his head, "I'm not tired". A small smile appeared across Catherine's face. "I know when someone is lying. I have been raising Savannah as my own daughter for a good while now. So go back to sleep, you need it". John stated at her opened mouthed, not quite believing that Catherine had just spoken to him like he was rebellious child. John then reluctantly did as he was told and went back to Allison. He reached to take one of the blankets off Allison, but seeing how she was comfortably asleep; he instead laid next to her on the cold floor and covered himself with the single blanket. He was cold but he slept easily enough.

When he was next woken up, it was a shake on his arm that did the trick. Opening his eyes, he nearly jumped in fear as John Henry stood over him. He thought it was Cromartie there to kill him until he remembered that Cromartie was long destroyed. "You have slept sufficiently". John tired not to laugh as John Henry walked away, back to the table. Only Allison and Kyle were still asleep or unconscious. The other three were sitting together around a fire, eating and drinking the food and water they had been given, but their voices were hushed and they shot both Catherine and John Henry nervous glances.

Catherine took John Henry's place as John sat up and she knelt down. She gave Max an angry look and he, who still obeyed Allison, lowered his head in fear. "The situation outside is getting worse with every passing hour. It's going to be hard enough to get just you, myself and John Henry past the machines, let alone everyone else". John raised his eyebrows in surprise, "its only five extra people. And a dog". "Yes, but even one person can give us away, and I know what my own capabilities are John Connor. I can not survive against the hundreds of machines out there, let alone keep you and John Henry alive as well". We can't take them with us". John could tell that what Catherine said was the truth, though he didn't know how he knew. Catherine looked surprisingly concerned for him, but he shot a single glance to Allison next to him and his mind was already made up, "I'm not leaving any of them behind". Catherine lowered her head, a disappointed look on her face, but her head suddenly and quickly turned towards the three other survivors, who all looked uncomfortable under her gaze before she looked back to John, "On your head be it John Connor. If the sake of the entire Human race, you better hope we get through this. You better wake her up, while I check you father". John wasn't surprised that Catherine knew who Kyle was, but stopped her before she left, "Where are we going anyways?" Catherine again looked around her, making sure they couldn't be heard, "Serrano Point nuclear power plant. I ensured that a second time machine was built there, as well as the one in the basement of the Zeira Corporation. The power plant is the only place left not under Skynet's control with enough energy to power the machine. If we make it there, we can get back". John then watched as she made her way over to Kyle began to check his wounds. John turned and softly shook Allison awake. She opened her eyes and sitting up, she gave John a long look before moving closer to him and again resting her head on his shoulder, "I was dreaming, about Cecelia. I miss her so much already".

John wrapped his arm around her and once again couldn't think of any words of comfort for her, "We're leaving soon. There are too many machines around here. Catherine's goanna lead us out, to somewhere safe". Allison raised her head again and stared at Catherine before to John, "Do you trust her?" John also looked to Catherine, not entirely sure if he could really trust her or not and decided he would tell the truth to Allison, for once, "Honestly, I don't know. But she's not lied to us so far and she kept us safe through the night. She's offered to take us somewhere safe and it's the only chance we've got". Allison shrugged her shoulders as if it didn't matter, "What ever happens, I'm going with you". John, surprised, slowly turned his head to face her, "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but why?" She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder again, "Because you are the only person left who I trust, you and Kyle. And Cecelia told me before she died to follow you, no matter what happens. She made me promise". John wrapped his arm around her shoulder to comfort her and they ate and what food and water John Henry brought them. Catherine that again appeared, this time rushing to John Henry. She whispered in to his ear and he reacted immediately to reach for a rifle, which was hidden behind the table. He tossed the rifle to John, with more force then he intended and John was lucky to catch it before the rifle hit Allison. John Henry then began taking more rifles out from the hiding place and handed them out to the others. John stood up as Catherine came towards him, "If we don't leave within the next five minutes, we'll be found. John Henry will carry Kyle Reese. You need to tell everyone else what to do. Make them follow us John Connor, or we leave them behind!" Allison lowered her head to stare at the rifle that John Henry had given her and held it clumsily, not used to holding a weapon as large as this. John nodded to Catherine, who quickly made her way to the stairs. John knelt down again and moved the rifle to the correct position in Allison's grasp, "Press it in to your shoulder like this. Try not to grip to so tight and press your finger lightly on the trigger. It's set to fire a three bullet burst, so be careful where you aim it".

She smiled at the last part and moved her hand to put the safety switch on, which made John smile since her rifle was aimed at his chest. John then went to talk to the other three, who gave him dark looks as he approached, "Okay, what the hell is going on? Who the hell are those two and what did she say to you?" It was obvious that they didn't trust Catherine or John Henry, which was understandable since they, unlike John, didn't know who or what they were. "It doesn't matter who they are. What's important it that they saved our lives yesterday and their doing it again right now. We've got metal looking for us and it will be here in about five minutes, so get up, get dressed, pack some of that food and water in to some back packs, and let's go". All three opened their mouths, dumbstruck with not only what John said, but he had given them an order and despite their own misgivings and lack of trust of John, who in their eyes was still a newcomer to the group, they did as they were told. John went back to Allison as she was pulling on her damp socks and equally damp boots. He did the same and hated to cold, wet feeling his socks and shoes brought him, but his coat, which had been hung up over on of the fire's, was dry and warm when he put it on. Allison spotted her own coat hanging up and once the confused look on how it got their disappeared from her face, she smiled at John as she put it on, feeling to same warmth that he was, "Thank you". John smiled back and turned to watch as John Henry, now wearing his own equally large coat, carefully picked up Kyle and put him over his shoulder. John grabbed Kyle's back pack and filled as much food and bottles of water in to it as he could and then pulled it on to his back. It was heavy and very uncomfortable. He tired walking around a little to get used to it, but it didn't improve. Max continually growled at both Catherine and John Henry while everyone was getting ready and didn't stop until Allison clicked her fingers and knelt down beside him, "What's wrong with you? Do they look like machines to you?"

Max whined as she petted his head and John tried not to think about how he would explain that they were in fact machines to her if she did find out. Catherine then looked over to John, who nodded to show that he was ready, as were everyone else. "Everyone follow Catherine! Don't fall behind!" He found himself saying it without thinking, like it was a dormant instinct coming to life within him. Catherine led the way up the stairs, and everyone now followed. They were heading to the nuclear power point at Serrano Point, to the time machine that would take him, Catherine and John Henry back home, but John felt suddenly cold for he remembered what Catherine had told him about time travel. Humans could travel through time once and once only without any lasting harm. John had jumped through time twice and the second time caused him to fall in and out of consciousness for three days. A third time, could very well be fatal to him and that fact hit John like a bullet. But he had to try. He had to get home. This world, this future was never meant to happen.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 - The Way Home

Catherine led the way up the stairs, while the rest of them, three willingly, three reluctantly, followed. Kyle, being unconscious, didn't have a choice in the matter. Catherine pushed the cabinet which hid the entrance downstairs aside with no visible effort, and led the way out through the shop and out in to the street. Everything seemed fine at first as there were no machines in sight, but John knew better then that. Just because he couldn't see machines, it didn't mean they weren't there. Since he hadn't had a chance to get an idea on his surroundings the previous night due to it being too dark to see and the fact he was freezing to death at the time, John took a moment to take note of what was around him. He guessed they were somewhere close to down town Los Angeles as he could see a handful of skyscrapers in the distance, though they were barely standing. Around him was nothing more then ruins of old houses and small stores similar to the one they just emerged from. Old cars littered the street, most of them were now just rusted hollow shells, half buried under rubble or just sitting in the open. An explosion sounded in the distance, causing them all to jump in surprise and raise their rifle's defensively. There was no indication to where the explosion came from, which made them all more nervous. Catherine stepped forwards from the group to stand alone, her head down and listening hard. It was sort of clear to John to what she was doing, but to the others in the group, they all gave puzzled looks to each other. Knowing that they had little to no trust in him, Catherine or John Henry, John knew that it wouldn't take much to spit the group. Knowing this gave John a new determination to keep the group together, knowing that they had more chances of surviving by staying together.

He stepped forwards and gave Catherine a firm tap on the arm, "At least try and act a Human. You'll give yourself away and what are you doing exactly?" Catherine opened her eyes and turned to look at the others for a long moment before turning again to John, "They are of no concern to me. My concern is getting you and John Henry safety to Serrano point. I do not care about their lives or their well being or if they discover that I am a machine. I am only allowing them to come with us die to your insistence on the matter. Now, unless you've got anything else to say which is unhelpful and irrelevant to our current situation, keep quiet while I determine where and how many machines there are nearby". John raised his eyes brows as Catherine closed her eyes again. Shaking his head at Catherine's bluntness, he turned back and saw John Henry watching Catherine with interest with Kyle still unconscious on his back. Allison had knelt down and was keeping Max happy and quiet by tickling behind his ears. The other three were standing well away from John Henry and Catherine and looked like they were about to just walk off when Catherine opened her eyes again, "We've got a good chance of getting out of here with out being seen. Skynet's mainly concentrated its efforts underground and for good reason. What's left of the Human population in this city is hiding underground, like your group did. But once Skynet has finished underground, it will bring the core of its machines back to the surface. We have to be at Serrano point by then".

John nodded and again looked around him, his eyes falling on of the nearby ruined cars, "If that's the case, then we need a car, or a truck. There are eight of us, so definitely a truck". Catherine gave him a stern look, a reminder that she disapproved of bringing everyone along before looking along the street herself, "There's a parking lot approximately two miles from here. I'm sure we can find something suitable and intact there, that is of course, if those machines don't spot us all first". John turned in a circle twice, looked for the machines but not seeing anything until Catherine pointed over the tops of the nearby houses. Moving quickly in their direction, though still far away enough not to be heard yet were Skynet's enormous hunter killer tanks. John could only see three of them, all moving in single file and he was sure there must be more behind the three he could see. The lead machine crushed houses under its large tracks, making a path for the others to follow easily. Its twin cannons, each positioned on either side of the tank, were constantly moving, searching for target's to fire its deadly payload at. John doubted a machine even as advanced and strong as Catherine would want to confront the oncoming tanks and his suspicion was strengthened by Catherine suddenly walking off without warning in the direction of the parking lot. John Henry was the first to follow her, closely followed by both John and in turn by Allison. The other three hesitated and John suspected that they only decided to follow and stay with the group after they spotted the approaching tanks. They walked together at a quick pace, steadily getting quicker and quicker when it became apparent that the tanks were moving a lot faster then they were going. Not only that, but now in the air, hunter killers could be seen.

They spotted two flying together not far away, heading thankfully away from them. John hoped that they would reach the parking lot before they were spotted, but that faint hope was dashed when a rocket flew over their heads, hit and demolished a nearby house in a large explosion. The lead tank had spotted them and now the explosion was drawn the attention of the two hunter killers, who did a quick U turn and began to quickly speed in their direction. The explosion had shook the ground and all of them fell to the floor by the force, all except John Henry and Catherine, who being machines, were not deterred by the explosion and kept their balance with ease. John quickly got himself up and turned to look for Allison, spotting her struggling to get up herself. John ran to her, grabbed her free arm and pulled her up just as hunter killers closed in. Despite the destruction of the street and the buildings on either side, most were still standing which forced the hunter killers to come at them in single file down towards them. John didn't know what happened next, he heard explosions, he heard gunfire, he heard screams and all he did were run, keeping a firm hold of Allison's hand as he did. He and Allison were thrown forwards off their feet when a rocket landed behind them, throwing them hard in to the ground and John cried out loud as his cut his arm on something sharpe. He gritted his teeth in pain and pulled himself up and this time, Allison grabbed his arm and pulled him off the street in to a nearby house, which was missing its roof and provided poor cover from the hunter killers, but the walls temporarily hid them from their gaze. John gritted his teeth as Allison placed her hands over his wound and pushed hard in an attempt to slow the bleeding.

She was unhurt and she seemed more worried for John then for the Hunter Killers trying to kill them. One of them hovered directly over the house, its huge engines blowing air down on to them and forcing both Allison and John to turn their heads down and raise their arms as some parts of the house collapsed under the force of the engines. More gunfire sounded and more rockets from the machine flew and stuck their targets, turning the street in to an inferno of fire and smoke. The machine above them eventually moved away and John ignoring his bleeding arm risked a quick look outside. He could barely see far in front of him due to the smoke and dust from the explosions, which didn't help them in seeing any other machines appear. But the smoke and dust also blocked the view of the two Hunter Killers, which gave them a few moments to work out what to do. Max was barking fanatically in to the air and Allison, seeing the danger long before John did, silenced Max quickly, as his barks could be used by the machines as a target through the smoke and dust. John crouched by the door and indicated to Allison that she should do the same at the other side. She did so nervously and both of them looked out, not being able to see. They could hear the Hunter Killers flying low and John groaned when he saw what they were doing. The Hunter Killers were using their engines to clear the smoke and dust. He waved his hand to get Allison's attention.

"Alright, this is what we do. We can't see them and they can't see us. They're trying to clear the smoke to find us. When they do that, we'll be able to see them. Shoot at the first engine you see, the closest one to us. It's can't stay in the air on one engine. When it blows, run out the back of the house, as fast as you can". She nodded, looking nervous but she looked far more confident then John had ever seen her. They then played the waiting game and they didn't have to wait long. The engines from the two Hunter Killers did their job well and then they saw the first Hunter Killer, hovering just about twenty metres above them. It was positioned perfectly for them to do what they wanted with its left engine was exposed right above them. They were ready and they aimed and they fired. The machine didn't have a chance to react to the attack and they both empted their magazines in to the engine. Their combined efforts worked perfectly and the engine exploded above them. They ran as the machine came crashing down, its other engine dragging it down to the ground in a large explosion. John and Allison were long out of the house when it landed but the force of the explosion still threw them off their feet again. Getting up again, they looked back at the burning wreckage, surprised that what they had managed to do. Allison looked in awe at the wreckage and John suspected that after a lifetime of hiding and running from the machines, this was the first real time she had managed to fight back against them.

The second Hunter Killer took the hint and flew higher to avoid the same fate as the other Hunter killer but what John and Allison saw next completely shocked them. The Hunter Killer suddenly stopped going upwards and looked like it was being pulled down. The smoke and dist was still thick which made it difficult to see what was happening but the Hunter Killer, though it fought hard to go upwards, was dragged steadily father and father downwards towards the ground. The engines roared furiously in a last attempt to go upwards before it was dragged down on its side. Its engine exploded under the joint strain of being crushed by the machine above it and the ground below and that explosion began a chain reaction until the Hunter Killer was nothing more then a burning wreak like its counterpart. John was for the moment, stunned by what had happened to the second machine and he had no idea how it had happened. Allison looked equally stunned, not having seen anything like that happen before. Looking away from the burning machines, he tired to spot anyone else from the group but couldn't see far through the thick black smoke coming from the fires and the dust in the air. "Come on, we have to find the others". They started off by headed along the back of the ruined houses to find a clear rout back on to the street away from the hot fires. The first house they tired to move through had collapsed in on itself. They moved on to the second only to find that again it had collapsed in on itself but had a clear route through on to the street. Unfortunately, there was also a large crater in the middle of the house which in turn was full of dirty brown water. It was dark in the house, smelt terrible and the water seemed to move. Turning on his new flashlight, he aimed it at the water and saw it was full of rats. There were also bodies in floating in the water, all half eaten by the rats and with rotting flesh hanging from exposed bones. Allison gasped and clasped her hand across her mouth to try and stop herself from vomiting and John, feeling like he was about to throw up himself, stepped back out of the house. They didn't need to say anything to each other to decide to look elsewhere.

It took them a full ten minutes to find a way through and when they finally got back on to the street, they found both John Henry and Catherine waiting for them. Neither looked relived or happy to see them, though John noted that John Henry looked hard and long at him, which gave him an uncomfortable feeling, which he shook off when he saw Kyle was still being carried on John Henry's back, still unconscious. Both of the machines walked towards them and Max momentarily growled and barked before catching Allison's eye and went silent. Catherine looked at John from head to toe and John got the feeling he was being scanned. Her eyes fixed on his wounded arm, which confirmed that he was being scanned. John resisted the strong urge to tell her to simply ask him if he was alright or not as she suddenly turned and walked towards the two burning machines. John looked around for the others but couldn't see them anywhere, not even bodies. He marched towards John Henry, who still watched him with a curious look, "Where are the other three?" John Henry turned his gaze to another building across the street, which was a half standing apartment block.

Catherine returned and followed John's gaze to the apartment building, "We have no time to go look for the others. They would have heard and seen both of the machines have been destroyed. If they haven't showed themselves by now, then they are either dead or long gone". She set off again without another word and despite John's reluctance to leave the others behind, he had no choice. He could see Skynet's tanks coming towards them in the distance. He hoped that they would escape somehow, but he doubted they would get far. He had a strong suspicion that Catherine had killed them so to not have them as extra baggage and the fact John Henry was unable to say anything before Catherine returned reinforced that suspicion, though it was impossible to be sure of it. He made a note not to let Allison out of his sight as he feared for her safety from Catherine if his suspicion about her proved to be true. They continued on without incident towards the parking lot, which they found to be full of old cars and trucks. They passed over a hundred of them until they found one that looked to be in good condition. It was a plain black pick up truck and only had enough room for two in the front. John Henry placed Kyle in the back of the truck and Allison promptly followed along with Max, who jumped up behind her. Catherine open the drivers door, reached inside and the trucks engine came to life impossible fast. John was about to jump in to the back to join Allison and Kyle when John Henry stopped him, "You shouldn't be in the back. You would be better protected if you were in the front". John shook his head instantly, having no intension of doing as John Henry asked, "Is that you wanting me to be protected, or is it Cameron?" He spoke with a bitter tone which caught John Henry off guard, "Both of us". John shook his head again and jumped in to the back of the truck, ignoring the disapproving look from Catherine and he concerned and surprised look from John Henry. Neither could protest however as the distant sound of the approaching tanks forced them to get in to the front of the truck. The next thing John knew, they were driving fast through he ruined streets. The lead tank saw must have seen them leave, but it didn't fire at them. They must have been out of range or the machine simply didn't have a clear shot, which was understandable as the sky was thick with black smoke from the two destroyed machines. They were soon on their way north, to Avila Beach, to the Serrano point nuclear power plant.

John found it oddly comforting to be sitting in the cold, in the back of a truck with nothing he could use for cover. He enjoyed the wind blowing through his now very long hair and he felt freer now then he had in a long time. He thought it must have been because he had lived underground for so long, but his experience was nothing compared to Allison, who had lived underground for most of her life compared to John's small number of months. He watched her as she sat opposite him, her long brown hair blowing wildly in the wind. She tired once or twice to stop it but gave up and let it flow with the wind. John stared at her, open mouthed, almost entranced by how beautiful she looked and didn't even realise his mouth was open until a drool of saliva hit his chin. Thankfully, she didn't notice that and John was able to wipe his chin clean before she noticed and saved himself from embarrassment. Despite everything that had happened to her, Allison seemed strangely happy herself. She seemed to forget everything as she closed her eyes and let the wind blow on her face as they drove. John didn't think that he would see her seem so at ease and happy after everything that had happened to her. She opened her eyes and looked up to the sky when the sun broke through a very rare gap in the thick black clouds. It was then that John noticed her pale Allison was. It wasn't because she was ill, but because she had lived underground for so long, she had barely little to any contact with the sun, leaving her skin more pale then his. John also noticed that Kyle, who lay next to them both, had the same pale skin. He hadn't noticed that before and though that must have been because everyone had the same pale skin, except him.

He realised that he must have looked strange to others and that might have explained why some people gave him dark looks. Max sat beside Allison, unsettled and nervous to be in the truck. He tired repeatedly to stand, but the uneven terrain made the truck move violently and Max fell down more then once. He eventually lay down next to her and shook nervously while Allison calmed him by stroking his head. Kyle suddenly stirred and began to come around, tossing and turning as if he was having a bad dream, though in fact he was just waking up. John took out one of the water bottles from his bag and helped Kyle sit up and held the bottle to his lips so he could drink. He did so greedily, coughing some of it up before he slowed down. He drained the whole bottle and began looking around in surprise as he realised where he was, "What the hell? How the hell? Where the hell I'm I?" He tried to sit up but his hand rapidly clasped to his chest as he felt his wounds ache. He also coughed loudly and painfully, which made it clear that he had a strong fever. They were now out of down town Los Angeles and had the luxury of being on a road with little to no visible damage, which made the journey smoother for now at least. The truck didn't shake or jump, which allowed them to relax for a moment, though they all still kept their eyes open for machines. John moved quickly as Kyle was sitting up, "Be careful, if you move to quickly, you'll pull the stitches out". Kyle gritted his teeth as John helped his slowly sit up and then John moved to sit next to Allison to gav Kyle space to get comfortable again. John caught something in the corner of his eye and saw that John Henry had noticed that Kyle was awake. He saw John looking at him and gave a small nod before turning away again.

John continued to stare however and noticed that both John Henry and Catherine were having a heated discussion which could easily be mistaken for an argument, but he couldn't hear what they were talking about over the loud noise the old engine was making. Turning back, he saw Kyle was looking around like he had never seen a truck before, "How are you feeling?" Kyle gave a soft laugh which just caused him more pain, "I feel like hell. What happened? How long was I out?" John jabbed his thumb to the front of the truck, "You've been out since last night. Your wounds got infected and I didn't help much when I patched you up the way I did. I'm sorry about that. I got them to patch you up later. Looks like they did a good job since you're now awake". Kyle gave a small nod and accepted a second bottle of water that Allison offered to him, "Hey, are you alright?" Allison nodded as she learnt back again, "Yeah, I'm fine. John looked after me" John felt himself go red, which made Kyle grin as he drank some more water before again coughing painfully, "Where are they taking us?". Allison at this point looked to John as she didn't know the answer to that question either, "There are too many machines in the city now. We can't stay here and they know a place up north, at Serrano point. They say it's safe. I doubt it but we've got no choice". His answer was hardly what Kyle had hoped for and if their position's were reversed, John wouldn't have been either, but thankfully Kyle was in too much pain to argue the point, though he must have thought that it was too good to be true, that their must be a string attached to Catherine's and John Henry's supposed kindness in taking them to a safe place. He drank some more water before taking out a pistol from his coat and holding it ready, his eyes fixed towards the two in the front of the truck, whom for the time being, they had to rely on to survive.

The rest of the journey was surprisingly uneventful. The saw numerous machines in the distance, sometimes filling the entire horizon, but they were never noticed by them. They were all heading to Los Angles with the sole purpose of hunting down John and with no army to lead and fight back against them, then machines could do it easily. But John was not in Los Angeles any more, he was heading north in to Skynet territory. Catherine must have known where to go, which roads to take and how fast they needed to go, for they never ran in to any machines directly. Catherine moved the truck faster in some places and slower in others, depending on where they were. They didn't take the direct rout to Serrano point, avoiding the main roads which Skynet patrols were regularity seen. Instead, they took smaller roads, soon of which took them the wrong way. John thought this was good however, as it might throw any machines off their trail if they were being followed. They passed through the desert region outside Los Angeles and forests. All the forests were dead, every single tree, plant and animal. Not a single spec green could be seen in the forests anymore, only black burned remains. It took them a lot longer to get to their destination by this rout then it would have been if they had took the main roads, but since Catherine was driving, John guessed it must be safer. He still didn't trust or like Catherine or John Henry for that matter, but for now, they were keeping their word

Kyle tired to stay awake but the combination of exhaustion and a fever won over and he passed out again not long after they hit the desert. John and Allison feared he had died before they noticed he was still breathing. Neither of them spoke much during the trip. While John kept his eyes open at all times on the lookout for any machines, Allison cried silently to herself, so quiet that John didn't notice until he caught her eye and saw the tears on her cheeks. Knowing that it was the memory of her adoptive mother Cecelia that brought on Allison's tears as she died only the day before, he put his arm around her and held her close. "I'm sorry. I don't want to cry, but I miss her so much. I know it won't bring her back. I can't help myself. I'm sorry". John repositioned himself so he could wrap both his arms around her and held her tighter to him. "You've got nothing to be sorry for. I know what it's like to loose someone who you care about. Emotions is what makes us different from the machines, it's what defines us for what we really are. We'd be nothing with out them. Cecelia might not have been your real mother, but she found you, raised you and loved you as her own daughter. She looked after you and kept you safe. Remember her for that. She might be gone now, but remember her for what she did for you. She kept you safe and she loved you". His words didn't stop the tears from flowing, but they did give Allison some measure of comfort, something which she desperately needed. Her tears subsided eventually but John continued to hold her close to him as he resumed his lookout for the machines.

It took them many long hours to reach Serrano point. When they did finally reach their destination, it was late afternoon and almost dark. Once the old nuclear power plant came in to view, John and Allison, both gave sighs of relief, their back's now aching after hours of leaning against the metal sides of the truck. Kyle. Though still unconscious again, looked to have improved as his skin had more colour now then it did. He shook as his body fought the fever and he shook less and less the closer they got to Serrano point, signifying that he was winning his fight against it. John looked up to the power plant as they approached and could see it was shadow of its former self. He had never been here before but did know from his mother, Cameron and Derek about what happened here. He knew of Skynet's attempts to disable the plant so the resistance could not use it as a power supply in the war. Skynet's machine had failed, but so had the Resistance in this future. So Serrano point was now abandoned. Catherine stopped the truck just outside the old parking lot outside the plant and there they waited, though for what, John didn't know. Catherine and John Henry both stared forwards towards the entrance, waiting for something to happen. John and Allison each gave a nervous glance and John took a moment to look behind them for a place to run to in case they were attacked. Nothing he could see was good enough so they were forced to wait. They didn't wait much longer.

Catherine got out of the truck and turned to John, "Let's go and stay close to me. Keep your eyes open". She turned away without another word, but the firm tone of her voice told John that there was a high chance that a fight would break out, but against what, he didn't know, but he could guess. The Resistance may have failed, but Skynet was paranoid. So paranoid, that it may have garrisoned the power plant with machines to guard against intruders, just in case. It was just a guess, but since even a powerful machine such as Catherine was being cautious as they approached, John now did the same. They left Kyle in the truck, since he couldn't do anything while unconscious. John hid him under a blanket they had brought along with them before they got out of the truck and slowly, the four of them approached the plant entrance, which was across the parking lot. It was a strange group, even to John who thought he would by now be used to such a thing. Two machines, two humans and a dog, walking together. Catherine took care to be close to John, ready to protect him if they were fired upon. This caused a small problem with Max, who as always was hostile to the machines presence, but tolerated them reluctantly since Allison didn't protest, though she still didn't know that they were machines. Allison stayed close to John and since Catherine was close to John also, it meant Allison and Catherine were close, which Max didn't like one bit. Even Allison this time couldn't stop the angry growls, though Max didn't go as far to attack Catherine. John Henry brought up the rear, holding his own rifle with efficiency, looking up at the power plant as if it were familiar to him.

Then, just as they were closing in on the entrance, the door was flung open and three dark figures appeared in the open doorway. John raised his rifle, as did Allison and John Henry who followed suit, but Catherine raised her arm to stop them, "Don't shoot them yet, let me talk to them first". John raised his eyebrows in surprise, thinking Catherine was a more shoot first and ask questions later kind of machine. Catherine lowered her arm as the three men left the building and slowly approached them. Two of the men were large, tall men. They looked like brutes and their large size supported that, as did the size of their weapons. Both carried huge shotguns, so large that John would have struggled to hold one, let alone fire it. They flanked the third middle man, who was smaller but no less looking less of a brute. He was unarmed but he walked in such a confident way that it was clear he was in charge. The trio stopped at least ten paces ahead of them and Max even, for the time being, shifted his growls towards the new group before them. "You're late and I'm not impressed by what I see here. I was under the impression that you would return here four days ago. Not only that, but I remember saying that you would return with two others, yet I see three". He had a sly grin on his face, which reminded John a lot of Burke, which caused John to dislike him in an instant. Catherine responded quickly, her voice harsh and firm, "I don't have the time or patience to play your sad, little games. Either make yourself useful, or get out of my way".

The two bodyguards primed their shotguns and aimed at Catherine, not liking her tone but the leader casually waved his hand and they lowered their weapons reluctantly, "We've finished fixing your dammed machine. You better check it out before using it. I can't guarantee it won't blow you to hell when you turn it on. Now, about my payment. You own me and my men….." Catherine raised her hand to stop him, "I know full well what I promised you. Once I've ensured you have fixed the machine like I asked and seen that it works as it should, then I'll give you what I owe you. Until then, I expect you and your men's full cooperation. Is that clear?" John could see that he was furious. It was clear that who ever this guy was, he wasn't used to people talking down to him, but the prospect of getting the reward Catherine promised him, what ever it may have been, was too tempting to give up, so he nodded his head in agreement and headed back inside with his bodyguards, after which Catherine turned to the group, "John Henry, go back to the truck and bring Kyle Reese to the medical room. He can be left there to recover for now, then come and find me at the machine". John Henry nodded and made his way back to the truck as Catherine turned her attention to John and Allison, "I'll take you two to the cafeteria. You both look hungry. The kitchen should still work so you might be able to cook yourselves something". John raised his eyebrows while Allison merely stared at her as they headed inside and Catherine took them to the cafeteria. The power plant itself at first seemed to be largely undamaged until it became clear from the burn marks and bullet holes in the walls that a fight had happened here long before. Saviours of Judgement day must have used the plant as an outpost or hideout, but Skynet and its machines had obviously cleared them out years before. Catherine left them both to check on the machine, which John assumed was the time displacement equipment they needed to get back home, though he didn't know why it was here of all places.

Unfortunately for the both John and Allison, the cafeteria was occupied by four men, whose eyes all fixed hungrily on Allison to moment she followed John in to the room. They were playing cards at the table, which was also covered with empty beer cans and bottles. They were clearly drunk and they wolf whistled at her. Allison just turned her head away and ignored them, which prompted one of them to stand up and make his way clumsily towards her. He backed off and sat back down when John made a threatening gesture with his rifle. Looking over to the kitchen, he could see it was nothing more then a few benches and an oven that looked like it has never been cleaned since it was brought here long before even Judgement day. Knowing that they wouldn't be able to cook anything here and neither of them wanting to stay in the room, they quickly left. "Oh come on baby, Ditch him and come sit on my lap. I'll show you what a real man can do". Allison looked like she was going to be sick as the four men laughed loudly amongst themselves. They headed along the corridor, hoping to find somewhere quiet to rest and eat in peace. They tried a few rooms, all of which were empty but appeared to already be used by the many people at the plant for sleeping. They gave up and decided to head towards the medical room, where they found Kyle, who was once again awake, "Hey where the hell did you two go?" John and Allison dropped their bags by the door, "To the cafeteria. Catherine said we could cook some food in the kitchen". Kyle looked a little hopeful until he saw their disappointed looks, the faint hope of some hot food disappearing. "That John Henry is really strange. He gave me a dammed lecture about not pulling my stitches out and staying in bed before he wondered off somewhere. Where are we anyways? Have you got any food on you, I'm starving". Grinning, John took out some food and the three of them ate what they could, giving their leftover's to Max, who ate them happily. Max seemed a lot happier now since John Henry and Catherine were both gone, which was obviously understandable to John, but not to Allison, who was confused over Max's hostility towards John Henry and Catherine. Max just wagged his tail as Allison playfully questioned him on his hostility as she fed him.

When everyone was finished, John helped Kyle take some fresh antibiotics to fight his infection and went to the door as they all heard loud laughter from outside in the corridor. Looking outside, John saw the same four men he and Allison had seen at the cafeteria, along with three others. The one who John threatened earlier pointed at him before gesturing that he'd cut John's throat by making a cutting motion across his own. Shaking his head as they laughed, John closed the door and looked for the lock, only to find it broken. Kyle saw what John was trying to do, "Trouble?" John shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe. There are seven of them, maybe more. I think they're just drunk but we shouldn't take our chances. I'll keep an eye out, you get some sleep". Kyle didn't like John telling him and didn't like it that the idea of getting even more sleep then he already had, but his wounds told him otherwise. Lying back down, he did indeed sleep. He had his pistol in his hand and only agreed to sleep on the condition that John wake him should something happen. John checked the corridor again ten minutes later when the loud laughter died down and he saw that the group had left. Hopefully, they wouldn't come back, but he and Allison both agreed that she was not to go anywhere alone, as John didn't trust any of the men not to try anything if she did. Neither left the medical room and as the hours went by, John tired to keep Allison's mind off Cecelia and resumed his efforts to teach her how to read and write, using some pens and paper they found in one of the cabinets. John was proud to see how far she had come in the few weeks he had been teaching her. She could now read clearly almost anything John wrote down for her, though she did still struggle on long words. She could also write well enough and could write her own name without making any mistakes now, which pleased her to no end. When they finished for the day, John let Allison take the only other remaining bed, while he took the floor near the door. Allison slept, but John didn't. He sat with his back to the wall, the door in front of him, hoping that none of the men here would be stupid enough to try and do anything, though he was ready in case they did. Max, unable to jump up on to the high bed to join Allison, lay down next to John, and they both watched the door and waited.

It didn't take long for someone to make their way slowly down the corridor, trying very hard to remain quiet. The echo of the footsteps in the empty corridor gave who ever it was away and John raised his rifle and aimed for the door, hoping that the person would just carry on by, but the footsteps stopped right outside the door. John looked to his right to Max, who lay down flat, as if scared to move. The door silently and slowly opened, revealing John Henry, who looked relived to find him there, "I've been looking for you; I thought Catherine took you to the Cafeteria". John lowered his rifle and petted Max, who he now knew was cowering since he still followed Allison's order to remain quiet, "She did; now we're here. What do you want?" John Henry gartered outside the door, "I need to show you something. I know you do not fully trust me or my mother, but I hope that I can now prove you otherwise. I want to prove that I will keep my end of our bargain please, come with me". John quickly looked over to Allison, who was silently sleeping in the bed nearby, "Do not worry about her John. If we leave now, you can be back here in less than ten minutes and I'm sure the dog will look after her in the mean time". John reluctantly stood up, but knelt down again to pet Max, who looked up to him, "Look after Allison for me". Max licked his hand once in reply before nervously making his way to Allison's bed where he lay down, his eyes never once leaving John Henry, whom John followed out of the room. "Okay, what do you want to show me"? John Henry gestured to John to follow him and they set off down the corridor, towards the centre of the plant. At first they walked in silence until they both heard the loud distant laughter of drunken men, "What do you want to show me?"

John Henry didn't respond as they headed through some double doors and in the centre of the power plant, where the huge machinery of the plant was located, "You will see soon enough". They stopped outside another door and John looked at the sign nearby which told him the room was toxic. "Wait here". John Henry then opened the door and stepped inside, in which John stepped back in alarm, not wanting to be exposed to year's worth of toxic waste that had been left there since Judgement day. John didn't dare approach the door and tried to see through the window in the door. He could see John Henry standing near to a stack of barrels but he then moved out of sight. John waited patiently, wondering what John Henry was doing and moved out of sight as he heard two men talking loudly nearby and remained in his hiding place long after the voices had trailed away. John Henry finally pushed open the door and stepped back out, holding under his arm one of the toxic waste barrels, "What the hell are you doing?" John was alarmed as he stepped out of his hiding place to confront the machine, but made sure to keep his distance from him. John Henry set the barrel down and proceeded to open it, "There is nothing here to fear John Connor. There is no toxic waste in here".

John took a small step forwards, but no more since his caution prevented him from doing do. John Henry pulled the lid free and dropped it next to him. He then reached down in to the barrel and to John's mutual surprise and shock; he pulled out a Terminator's arm. "What the hell is that thing doing in here? How did you know it was there?" John Henry smiled as he dropped the arm back in to the barrel and pointed to the chip in his head, "I know it was here because it was Cameron who put it here. This machine was here to cause this power plant to go in to meltdown, but Cameron and your mother prevented that from happening. Cameron hid the machine's remains in this barrel as it would not be discovered due to the fear many Human's have of Toxic waste exposure. A cleaver plan on her part, but it has given us an opportunity to see if I can keep my end of the bargain we made". John watched as John Henry pulled out a knife from his pocked and held it out to John. "This machine's circuitry and power supply has been completely destroyed, but its chip is designed to cut itself off from the rest of the body to protect itself from electricity, though it does leave the chip trapped in a useless body. If I'm right, the chip will be intact. Once we are back home, you and I can delete the previous programs on this chip so I can inhabit it, then I can give Cameron back to you". John Henry smiled as if proud he had come up with such a good plan and even John was impressed by the plan. If the chip was there, it was a step closer to getting Cameron back.

He nodded and took the knife from John Henry's hand, "Alright then, get that thing out of there". John Henry pulled the machine up with out any visible effort and turned it so the chip port was easy to get to. John eased the knife in to the slot, knowing what to do since he had done this to Cameron twice before. The ports were identical, so he knew what he was doing. The outer cover came away with some effort and the chip came in to view. John put the knife aside and twisted the chip and pulled it free, holding it up for both of them to see. It was indeed intact and in good condition. John held the chip up to the light, knowing full well the artificial intelligence on it would be determined to kill him if it regained a new body. He was half tempted to crush it with his fingers, but ultimately lowered his hand again as John Henry dropped the machine back in to the barrel. John watched as John Henry resealed the barrel and John stepped back again as John Henry went back in to the toxic room to hide the barrel. When he returned, he took the chip from John's hand and held it up to get a good look at it, "The chip appears undamaged. It seems this machine's chip was not programmed to destroy itself if removed from the endoskeleton, which is lucky for us". He gave a smile, one which John returned, much to his own surprise. John noticed something out of the corner of his eye and turned quickly, raising his rifle to face Catherine, who grabbed the end of his rifle and pushed it away from her, "Do I look like one of the drunken fools here?".

John shook his head and pulled his rifle away as she let go of its end, "What are you two doing here?" Her eyes fixed on the toxic symbol near the door before her focuses shifted to the chip in John Henry's hand, "Where did you find that chip?" John listened as John Henry gave her a brief explanation of where the chip was and why they had took it. She nodded her head, apparently agreeing to their plan, but not looking convinced which didn't fill John with any confidence. She turned away and stared for a whole at the huge machinery, much of which was badly rusted, "We have a number of serious problems. The time displacement equipment has been repaired and can get us home, but the only way to power it is by using the nuclear reactor here at the plant. However, the reactor itself has been damaged over the years and I have neither the time nor the resources to repair it. It still works, but it will take at least six hours for the reactor to produce and build up enough power for the time displacement equipment to work. Skynet unfortunately, will detect the build up of energy long before we have sufficient power and will send its machines here to stop us. Not only that, the reactor, due to the damage, has a high probability of sending the plant in to meltdown and exploding before it has build up enough power". John groaned and turned away, wondering now if this nightmare he was in would ever end, while John Henry remained idle, not saying a word. John turned back, feeling now very tired. "So what are we going to do? We have to get back home. How long until Skynet can get machines here once you turn the reactor on?".

Catherine thought hard for a moment before replying, "Four hours, maybe five. Skynet has panicked with your sudden reappearance and has focussed all its efforts in killing you in Los Angeles. Once it detects the reactor powering up, it will assume correctly that you are responsible and divert its forces here. There are around twenty to thirty men here but they will not fight for us and even if they did, they wouldn't last more then five minutes. They do not have the training, weapons or discipline to defend against such an assault and neither do we for that matter. I will leave the decision on what to do to you John Connor". John's eyes widened in surprise and suddenly, felt like he was going to be sick, "Why me?" Catherine then smiled, which only succeeded in making John feel more uneasy then he already was, "You are John Connor. You will one day have to make decisions such as this and you can not lead the Human race in its fight for its very survival if you do not. Right here and now, you have to become the John Connor that the world needs". John at this point, did throw up, turning away from the two machines and coughing as he recovered from it. He never wanted to be who he was destined to become, but even he couldn't outrun his own destiny. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve and breathing deeply, he turned back to the machines. "Do it". Catherine gave a small nod, "Well done, you've now become the John Connor everyone needs. I will wait a few hours before I begin to power the reactor. It will give you a chance to sleep before we travel home". She then took the chip from John Henry's hand and held it in her palm, which turned to silver and looked like silver water. The chip then sank slowly in to her hand and disappeared as her hand reformed, "The chip will be safe within me as we travel back". They separated then, Catherine heading one way while John and John Henry headed quickly back to the medical room. Catherine decided that John Henry would hide near the medical room to guard John while he slept. John wasn't happy about that but didn't complain since he was tired. He found the medical room was the same as he left it, both Kyle and Allison sleeping undisturbed. He lay down and covered himself in the blanket. He was cold but was very grateful when Max came and lay down next to him. He petted the dogs head softly as he lay for what seemed like hours trying to sleep. He remembered that he could very well die during this jump back to the past. He knew that tomorrow, could very well be the day he dies.

When John woke the next morning, he felt like he hadn't slept at all. His eyes hurt when he opened them and his arms and legs ached when he tired to move them. He dragged himself up and saw that Kyle was awake, sitting on his bed, deep in thought. "Hey Kyle, you look better". He didn't respond, ignoring him completely. John dragged his feet as he crossed the room, "Kyle, are you alright?" Again Kyle ignored him and John waved his arms in front of Kyle's face, "Kyle?" At this, Kyle jumped and raised his pistol, which he had been holding on to the entire night, He almost shot him there and then and probably would have done if he hadn't realised what he was doing, "Sorry John, I was just thinking about Derek and Alistair". John nodded as Kyle lowered his pistol, feeling a sense of guilt for both Derek's and Alistair's deaths. "They didn't die for nothing. They gave their lives to let us escape".

Kyle shook his head, a hurt and disappointed expression was clear now on his face, "No, they did die for nothing. They gave their lives so I could lead everyone out, but look at us now. Three. That's all there is of us now, three people. Look at us, look at Allison. All she had in this dammed world was Cecelia and now because of me, Cecelia's dead and she's got no one, she's got nothing. If I hadn't have gone back to try and save them, Cecelia might still be alive. We might have kept everyone together". Kyle shook his head and then stared at the pistol in his hand, which instantly made John feel nervous. Kyle again shook his head and John heard a click from the gun, which he recognised as the safety being turned off. "What's the point of it now? Derek's dead, Alistair's dead, Hell even Burke's now dead. Everyone's dying around us. We've all lost. Skynet will find us all eventually and soon there will be nothing left to show that we were ever here. It might be better just to end it now, make it easier for Skynet". John, more nervous now, slowly held his hand out, "Kyle, give me the gun". Kyle shook his head again, raising the pistol slightly upwards and John was resisted the urge to make a wild grab for it. "Kyle, if Alistair could see you now, I know he'd be ashamed of you for this. He didn't spend all those years raising you as his own son just for you to throw your life away like this. Like you said before, Skynet will find us eventually. Wouldn't you rather go down fighting them then blowing your own brains out?" John nearly did make a wild grab as Kyle raised his pistol further but was more then relived when Kyle lowered his gun. John now took the pistol from his grip and clicked the safety back on. Kyle looked at him apologetically, but John turned away before he could say anything. He was startled then by Allison, who was now sitting up and had apparently watched and heard everything that they had said. She gave John a long look and then smiled, happy with the outcome of Kyle not shooting himself before getting out of bed to feed Max, who had begun to whine for her attention nearby.

The three of them ate breakfast together. Kyle, to his credit, did attempt to apologise to both John and Allison for his actions, but he was repeatedly unable to find the right words and eventually gave up, keeping his head down in shame. Allison looked nervously from one to the next, happy that Kyle was still alive but unhappy by the recent development between the two of them. John couldn't keep his mind off what was coming to him. He now desperately wanted to go home, to find his mother, to find Cameron's body and return her chip, but he feared what would happen once he jumped back through time. Catherine told him there was a high chance a third jump through time could easily kill him. The alternative of possible being in a coma wasn't something he was looking forwards to either, since he might never wake from the coma and this future would still come to be, which was something he didn't want. Another alternative was that he could stay here, in this future, but just thinking about that gave him a headache. This future was dead and if he stayed, it was only a matter of time before Skynet finished what was left of Humanity off, including him. He had to try and get home, to grow to be the man the world needed, to give it a fighting chance against Skynet and its machines. A firm and loud knock at the door made them all jump and Max as always, growled angrily. John and Kyle both armed themselves as John went to the door and opened it revealing both Catherine and John Henry, "We have trouble heading our way. I need to speak with you now and Kyle". Catherine then without another word turned and left down the corridor, leaving John both confused and annoyed. He turned to Kyle, who also gave him a confused look, "What does she want to speak to me for?".

John shrugged his shoulders as Kyle stood up, a look of gratitude on his face which John suspected was because he had an excuse to not eat the food he had been given. John made to turn out of the door, but turned back again to Allison, who had remained where she was, "Come on, I'm not leaving you here by yourself". Allison gave a small smile and her face reddened as John showed her cared for her but before she could respond, John Henry cut in, "I'll stay. I'll keep her safe until you get back". John hesitated, not only disliking the fact that Allison would be left alone with a machine he didn't fully trust yet, but also because he feared that Catherine might have given John Henry instructions to harm or even kill her, but he needed to know what Catherine had to say and so turned to John Henry, "Hurt her, and I'll do more then tear your head off". Everyone stared at him and John Henry looked painfully confused by his words. John didn't wait for a reply as he headed out of the room in Catherine's direction, Kyle close behind him, "What the hell was all that about?" "What was all what about?" Kyle laughed and quickened his pace to keep up with John, "Oh I don't know, maybe the part where you said, 'Hurt her, and I'll do more then tear your head off'". John tired not to go red and to avoid Kyle's gaze, "It was nothing". Kyle laughed again and shook his head, "Like hell was in nothing. I feel sorry for any guy who crosses you when it comes to Allison". He laughed again and John tired hard to ignore him. Catherine was waiting for them just down the hall and as they approached, John noted the look of urgency on her face. "Skynet knows we're here", she finally said as they stopped before here. John shook his head, as did Kyle who groaned in annoyance, "How long have we got?".

Catherine closed her eyes quickly, which John knew was because she was calculating how long they had, "No more then two hours. We have no where to go to from here. Skynet had far more machines in the area then I thought and they are advancing towards us slowly, making sure that there is no chance for us to escape". It didn't take a genius for John to figure out that Skynet's machines would arrive long before the machine was ready to take them back, hence why Catherine also wanted to speak to Kyle, "I need you help Kyle. The men here at the plant will run at the first sign of the machines. They will be cut down and killed without a fight. What I need you to do in convince them to stay and coordinate a defence"? Kyle looked completely stunned by Catherine's words and went very pale in the face, "Why should I? What's in it for me, for us? I don't know you and I have no intension of fighting for you. And I have no intension of leading men I don't know". Catherine then gave very unconvincing smile and John made a note to teach her how to smile properly if they survived the battle ahead of them. "We are all going to die today, that is why. There is no question about it. There is no chance for us to escape, no where for us to go. We would need at least one thousand armed and trained fighters to be able to hold back such an assault, even for just an hour and there are only thirty men here and their not solders. But they are a chance for us to do a lot of damage to Skynet. I've started to power up the nuclear reactor here and if we can hold back Skynet's assault long enough, it will send the plant in to meltdown and the resulting explosion will destroy every machine within a fifty mile radius". John at this point though that Catherine had gone too far at this point, thinking that causing the power plant to go in to meltdown on purpose was going over the top, but as he opened his mouth to argue, he couldn't think of any alternative they could take, closed it again and remained silent. Kyle took a step backwards, shaking his head and obviously wishing he hadn't woken up this morning, "You're mad, your fucking insane you know that?" He shook his head again and turned away, muttering to himself before turning back, "Where's the leader of these men".

Catherine stepped aside and pointed down the corridor behind her, "Most likely in the cafeteria. That's where they hide their alcohol". Kyle nodded and walked past her, "I'll make them sing before I make them fight". John couldn't help but smile as Kyle left before turning his attention to Catherine, "I thought you were waiting until morning before you power up the machine?" Catherine held her hand up and looked around them, making sure they wouldn't be overhead, "I was forced to start earlier then we planned. The men here began to ask questions and threatened to destroy the machine unless I give them what I promised them. I could have killed them easily, but I need them to fight for us, to protect the machine". John frowned, not liking any of this one bit, "What did you promise them?" Catherine again looked around her at hearing a squeaking sound, which John knew must have been just a rat. "I promised them women of course. I told them I was part of a small community of people somewhere nearby and in exchange for building the machine for us, we'll join them here to help repopulate the planet. What else would so many greedy and arrogant men want? It wasn't hard to get them to agree and don't worry, I would never have actually given anyone to them". She had added the last part after the seeing the look of horror and disgust on John's face. "How long do we have until the machines get here and how long do we need before we can go back home?" "Two hours for Skynet's machines to arrive. We do however; need twenty to thirty minutes before we have enough power for the time displacement equipment to work".

John nodded and turned to look as Allison walked quickly towards him with Max at her side. He didn't notice at first, but as she neared he saw tears on her cheeks, "Tell me it's not true. Please tell me it's not true". John didn't have the faintest idea what she was talking about and just stared at her, "What? What are you talking about?" John Henry appeared behind her, looking at John from over Allison's shoulder with a saddened expression. More tears fell down Allison's cheeks as she spoke next, "Cameron! Tell me it's not true what he told me about Cameron. Tell me he's lying". She looked behind her and saw John Henry before looking back again to John, who just stared at her, horror struck. His first thought was to lie to her, tell her that it was a lie, but he had lied to her so many times already. He had lied to her about who he really was and never told her why he had come here. He didn't want to lie to her anymore and so lowered his head, "He's not lying".

To say Allison was hurt by this revelation was an understatement, she was destroyed. She fell to her knees in horror, clutching her hands over her face to hide it. John shot John Henry an angry look, now hating him all over again before he knelt down before Allison and reached out to take her hands, "Allison. I'm sorry. Just let me explain…." "GET AWAY FROM ME!" His hands touched hers and she pushed him away from her so forcefully, he was thrown on to his back and when he got back up, he was forced to back away from her as Max advanced on him, his shape teeth on show for all to see. John was fond of Max and it had taken a long time to gain his trust to be near Allison, but now, all that trust was gone., "Allison, please". She stood up, heartbroken and now he knew she felt that she was completely alone in the world and she slapped him hard across the cheek, "Stay away from me John, just stay away from me, I hate you". She then ran past John Henry back down the corridor, Max following her. John watched her leave, his hand held over his cheek where she slapped him and felt a tear fall down his own cheek in despair with what had just happened. He then turned on John Henry, "Why the hell did you tell her?".

John Henry looked just looked confused, so confused he looked to Catherine for guidance but finding none, he looked back to John, "She noticed that you and I knew each other so she asked me how we knew each other. I just answered her". John punched him then and in his anger, he didn't feel much pain from John Henry's metal skull and thankfully, didn't break his wrist, "You stupid, useless machine. Do you have any idea what you've done to her?" John Henry didn't have any idea on how to respond and didn't say a word. John shook his head and began to go after her but Catherine put her hand on his shoulder to stop him, "Leave her be John. What's done is done. I think I'm right in saying that you planned on taking her with us, but she cannot. This is her future and she must stay in it. You'll meet her again at some point I'm sure. But now we must focus on more important matters. We've got to get back home and I need to keep you both alive until then, so stay close to me when the machines come". She then left and John Henry followed her, avoiding John's gaze as he passed. John then looked back down the corridor after Allison and he hated himself now. He hated himself for lying to her and he hated himself now the most, for breaking her heart.

The two hour wait for Skynet's machines to arrive were the longest in John's life so far. He now felt more alone then he ever had before and it was his own doing this time. Kyle had successfully brought the men in the plant together to fight, though he did have to break a few noses to do it. He was busy trying to organise them but since most were drunk, he was having a hard time at it. Catherine and John Henry were at the centre of the plant where the time displacement equipment and nuclear reactor were located, doing everything they could to quicken the build up of power for the machine to work but all the managed to do was take a few minutes of the time that was needed. John spent the two hours wondering the plant trying to find Allison. He wanted more then anything now to just talk to her, to explain why he lied to her so many times. But he also wanted to tell her that he didn't befriend her for the hell of it. He wanted to tell her he did indeed care about her a lot and didn't intend to hurt her like he had done. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find her anywhere. He was scared for her now, thinking that she might have been attacked by one of the men here, but then he remembered Max and how he would protect her and he remembered that Allison, despite her frail appearance, wasn't exactly defenceless herself, she did have a gun and could defend herself if necessary. Then he feared that she might hurt herself, even kill herself and that thought made him more desperate to find her. She had lost Cecelia and with her death, the only person she cared about was John and now the revelation from John Henry had destroyed her trust in him and took away her only friend. She was now, truly alone.

There was also the possibility that she had left Serrano point, where she would ultimately be killed be the approaching machine army. As he searched for her, John could feel vibrations through the floor and walls from the nuclear reactor as it powered up. The power plant had been left standing for many years, inactive and useless and during that time, the machinery had rusted and fallen apart without any maintenance. The result of that were the soft vibrations in the floor and walls. The vibrations increased and decreased from time to time, but it was a sure sign that the reactor was working and that he may be able to get home soon. John eventually wondered towards the centre of the plant for a forth time in another vain attempt to find Allison when he came across both John Henry and Catherine, working fanatically on the consoles and machinery around them, "How much longer?" was all he could think to say at this point. Catherine looked up from the console she was working on, "Half an hour, maybe more. It's difficult to say. We get energy spikes and power surges which aren't helping and we need to…." She stopped talking and seemed to freeze as if she couldn't believe what she had just discovered. "They're here!" John then looked up at the sound of clattering feet on the catwalks above him as at least a dozen men all ran as fast as they could, panicked looks on their faces and he knew they had seen Skynet's machines approaching the plant. A familiar face peered over the catwalk above them and shouted down, "We've got incoming. Hundreds of them, maybe thousands. John, get up here and help us fight off the bastards and you two make sure this dammed reactor blows. I'll be dammed if I die here and not take all those metal bastards with me".

Kyle then ran along the catwalk to where John knew was a door leading to one of the many catwalks located outside. John looked to Catherine, who must have been able to read him mind since she knew exactly what he was going to do, "Don't even think about it John. I need you here. I need you both alive". John shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't care, which quite frankly, he no longer did. "If I'm still alive, I'll be back in half an hour". With that, he turned and ran up a flight of stairs which were nearby which would take him to Kyle and smiled at the thought of the look that he knew would be on Catherine's face right now. Catherine didn't stop him, for which he was glad as she could very easily knock him out or tie him up, but she let him go as she focused on getting the time displacement to work. He stepped through out in to the cold air and joined Kyle and three others who were standing and watching the approaching machines. Kyle wasn't wrong when he said there were thousands of machines. John saw them approaching over the flat desert plains to the east and they seemed to be endless. Skynet's enormous tanks with their duel cannons on either side approached slowly in a long line, followed by what seemed to be an army of humanoid machines. They were still too far away to be able tot ell whether they were t six hundreds or T eight hundreds or even something else, but John suspected that the horde of machines were a mixture of the two.

Alongside those machines were other types of machines, some with legs and other with tank like tracks for movement. Even the enormous harvesters, which John had learnt had been designed to round up and capture Humans long ago and were now obsolete since Skynet no longer captured Humans, were marching behind the Tanks. Above them, the dreaded Hunter Killers, one of which John and Allison had shot down, flew above the tanks and alongside them, were their smaller drone counterparts. It was indeed, a terrifying sight to behold. There were simply just so many machines stacked against them; it was unlikely any of them would last more then thirty seconds, let alone half an hour. John didn't know how he could even lead an army to fight against so many machines. It seemed hopeless, complete and utterly hopeless now. No one spoke; all they could do was watch as the machines slowly approached. Skynet must either have been very confident or overly cautious because the machines never once broke their formation or quickened their pace. John did think this was good however, for the longer the machines took to get here; it gave them more time to power up the time displacement equipment. Kyle eventually broke the silence, "Well, I can honestly say I haven't seen anything like this since the work camps". He looked strangle cheerful compared to everyone else. The former leader of the group at the plant, who John could see had a broken nose, spat over the catwalk and turned to Kyle, "It was you who brought those machines here. Before you came, they never came here and now look! This is your doing". He tired to take out his pistol, but Kyle was too quick for him and before he knew it, he had a rifle in his face, "We didn't bring them here. Skynet would have found you all eventually, it always does. Now get to your positions and when those metal bastards get within range, give them hell". Kyle lowered his rifle and the former leader, his pride all but gone, spat blood over the catwalk again and walked off along with the other two men, whom John recognized as his old bodyguards. Kyle then out his hand on John's shoulder, "At least we'll both go down fighting. I think that's the best way, don't you? By the way, I'm sorry about earlier. I was stupid and I don't know what I was thinking".

John grinned back at him, "Its fine, honestly it's fine. Let's just take out as many of those things as we can". Kyle nodded and then held out his hand to him and John took it, knowing this would most likely be the last conversation he would have with his father, or at least this version of him, "It's been good knowing you John. You're a good guy and a good friend Alistair told me not long before he died that he thought of you as another son. I guess that makes us family in a sense". Kyle then hugged him and John felt a surge of happiness, for this was the closest he had even been to his father and this would be the only time his father could show any affection for him, even if he didn't know he was his father. Kyle then walked back inside but reappeared almost a second later, "You know what's strange John? Ever since we met you, I always thought you looked familiar, so did Derek. He said you looked like me". Kyle laughed and shook his head before disappearing a final time, leaving John standing there alone, completely stunned but also happy that his family had at least noticed something about John that pointed to them being related. John then looked to the approaching machine horde and watched as at least a dozen drones finally broke formation. John thought they were coming for him at first, but they flew harmlessly over him and high over the plant where they then did open fire on what John knew were the men who were running away and refused to stay and fight. The drones of course, made short work of them all and John didn't wait for them to come for him. He headed back inside and walked right in to John Henry, "John, good, you're here. Where are we going then?" John noticed John Henry had a rifle and actually looked eager for a fight, which surprised him, "We? What makes you think I want to go anywhere with you after what you've done?" John Henry' smile vanished, though his eagerness was still evident as he pointed once again to his chip, "If she could, she would be here with you, but since she can not, I'll do what I can to protect you". John nodded, knowing that was true and though he didn't want John Henry anywhere near him after what he had done, he couldn't deny his help and so nodded his head along the catwalk, "Along here, to one of the entrances I guess. Didn't Catherine try and stop you from coming?" John Henry nodded as they set off, "Yes, she did. But what can my mother do to me? Ground me?" John, once again stunned, couldn't help but grin at that.

They headed to the closest entrance they could find, which turned out to be the actual main entrance to the plant. Kyle was there, as were six others, all of whom looked like they would throw up at the sight of the advancing machines. John and John Henry took cover and aimed their rifles across the small lobby to the large double glass doors in which they could see the machine. The tanks had now stopped and were allowing the smaller machines to advance to the plant, which conformed one on John's suspicions that Skynet wanted to capture power plant intact, no doubt to capture to time displacement equipment at its heart, technology that in this future, it did not posses. The first group of machines that approached the entrance were T-ones and T six Hundreds and the sight of them caused two of the men with them to loose their nerve and flee deeper in to the plant, an act with brought a shake of the head from Kyle, "Typical, two men down and we haven't even started". He looked back outside and saw that T eight hundreds were also advancing behind the other machines and he raised his hand, "This is it, OPEN FIRE!" They did and the glass doors were shattered in an instant as the bullets passed through them. The machines didn't fire back and just continued to advance, allowing the bullets to harmlessly bounce of their metal endoskeletons and armour. They came closer and closer and when they reached the doors, they stopped and raised their weapons. A hushed silence fell all around them in the brief second before then machines opened fire themselves. The machines processed mush more firepower and they tore through all the cover that they had. Glass was thrown all over them and wood splinters were shot in every direction as desks and chairs were torn apart by the machine bombardment of bullets.

John Henry grabbed John and used his own body to shield him from the bullets as they left the room through the door they came through. John could hear the terrified screams of the men left behind and he was sure one of those men was Kyle, but he couldn't be sure of that. They fled in to one of the large offices, full of old desks and computers as the silence fell again. The machines had finished their bombardment and were now advancing in to the plant. They could hear gunfire from other fire fights which had broken out all over the plant at each and every entrance and it was clear that by how quickly the guns went silent, the machines had won them all with ease. John doubted that they had even slightly damaged a single machine yet. A few machines followed them in to the room and both John and John Henry hid behind one of the desks at the back of the room. John Henry looked at the machines and then pushed his rifle in to John's hands, "Stay here, I've got an idea".

He then stood up and raised his arms, "Don't shoot, I surrender!" John waited for the machines to shoot him but they didn't, thought they had seen him. Then John saw why. John Henry had made his eyes glow red and the machines, having seen it, recognised him as one of their own, though they must have been confused since they had never seen a machine with living skin as Skynet had never developed it. John Henry approached them, "I will take you to John Connor, He's over here". John nearly had a heart attack at this sudden betrayal, but then he heard some commotion as if the machines had suddenly begun to fight each other. John tried to look to see what was happening, but one of the machines had begun to fire its mini gun wildly all over the room, tearing the room completely apart. Once the bullets had stopped, John peered over and saw John Henry standing over the remains of four T six hundreds and was now wielding one of their mini guns. This reminded John a lot of the Uncle Bob terminator machine, which also liked to use a mini gun. "Let's go". John quickly followed him though the door and in to the corridor outside, where John Henry made short work of two T-ones and another T six Hundred, "What we need are plasma rifles and the only machines I saw with them were the T eight Hundreds". John looked around at the sound of footsteps approaching and knew more machines were coming. They now moved through the corridors, retreating from the advancing machines.

John felt more or less useless until they came across and T eight Hundred, who recognised John instantly and advanced on him, but John Henry stood in the way. The fight was short but brutal. The T eight hundred thought John Henry was Human and tried to simply throw him aside, which of course didn't work. John Henry's response was to hit the machine hard with the butt of his mini gun, which pushed the machine back enough for John Henry to then aim for the machines face and fire. At such a close range, the machine didn't stand a chance as the barrage of bullets tore the machines head apart, leaving it practically headless as it hit the floor. John Henry took the machines plasma rifle and handed it to John, who now had a weapon he could use actually use against the machines. They acquired a second plasma rifle for John Henry and then they really did start to cause damage to the machines, who never expected anyone except themselves to be able to get hold of a plasma rifle, which was just as devastating to them as it was to humans. They were able to destroy machine after machine but the sheer numbers of them forced them back to the centre of the plant. Even then, only John and John Henry were able to cause any real damage to the machines, which easily killed everyone else they found. John thought he heard some barking, thinking it might be Max and he tired to look again for Allison, but the machines forced him to run for his life. When they did reach the centre of the plant, it was clear that the plant was going in to meltdown. The alarms were sounding and steam was shooting form many of the pipes. John Henry did his best to barricade the door, but he couldn't do much. "We have to get to my mother. We can't hold them off".

They ran, knowing the machines would right behind them soon. They reached Catherine, who was working very quickly on the time displacement equipment, "We're almost there". The floor began to shake as some pipes bust as hot steam gushed out of them. John Henry went to help Catherine with the machine and then John heard barking again and he looked around. He saw Allison, he saw Max and he saw Kyle, who was bleeding badly but was still standing. He was about to run to them when Catherine shouted, "JOHN, IT'S DONE". He turned back and he saw that the time displacement equipment was working. A blue sphere of energy had begun to form around Catherine and John Henry. John didn't know what to do. He wanted to get home but he also wanted to help Allison and Kyle, who were both under fire. Catherine then appeared at John's side and took hold of his arm, "They can't come with us, neither of them can. This is for we three, no one else". She pulled John towards the rapidly growing blue sphere, but John at hearing Allison's terrified scream, pulled his arm free from her grip and ran as fast as he could to her. Catherine called after him but he didn't stop, he couldn't, not now.

As he ran, John saw his father die. Kyle fought bravely, but he was overwhelmed by the machines before John could even get half way to reaching him. He screamed out in defiance a final time before he took numerous bullets to the chest. Allison was crouching nearby him, hiding behind one of the large steel pillars and was desperately holding on to Max, who in turn was desperately trying to escape her grip to attack the machines. A T eight hundred heard Max's barks and advanced on her and Max then tore free from her grip and ran at the machine. Allison screamed in despair as the machine caught Max in mid air by the throat, and with a swift motion of its hand, broke Max's neck. The machine then tossed Max's lifeless body aside and then reached out for her throat. John stopped and fired then and he didn't miss. He blew the back of the machines head apart and then went to Allison and held out his hand to her, "Come with me if you want to live, please come with me". Despite everything that was happening around her, she still hesitated to take his hand, "Please Allison, I'm not leaving you here. Please come with me". She then did reach out and took his hand. He pulled her up and threw his rifle away as they ran towards the blue sphere of energy. More machines were following them and shooting but they ran and they ran. They reached the blue sphere just as the energy reached its peck and with a flash of white light and excruciating pain, they were dragged from this future and back in to the past, to another unknown future that awaited them.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 - A Second Chance

For the third time in his life, John experienced the excruciating pain of time travel. He knew the moment he stepped in to the blue sphere of energy, there was no turning back, no changing his mind and that there was a good chance he would simply arrive in the past as nothing more then a corpse. He could still hear the machines firing at them, he could hear the explosions and he could hear the drumming noise from the machine itself as it built up its energy. He closed his eyes as the light suddenly became too bright for his eyes to bear and he knelt down, pulling Allison down with him. He felt his feet leave the ground and the loud sounds of the machines disappeared completely. As his feet left the ground, he felt the most excruciating pain he had ever felt. His head felt like it was ready to explode. His brain felt like it was trying to break out of his skull. His skin burned, more then it did the previous two times he had travelled through time. Those two times, his skin felt like he was standing next to fire, but this time, it was like he was on fire. Every part of his body screamed out to him to end the pain, to end it forever but he was powerless to stop it. John wanted to die, he wanted it to end. Nothing was worth such pain, nothing in this world. He would gladly leave the world to its fate and leave Skynet victories if the pain would step and then, just like that, it did stop, the pain did end and John couldn't remember anything that he had been thinking of. His now bare feet touched the ground and suddenly, he was being soaked by heavy rain. He opened his eyes and slowly raised his head. It was dark and it took a few moments for him to focus and take in his surroundings. Small fires were burring around them due to the excess energy of the time displacement and they were quickly being put out due to the heavy rain. The concrete beneath them had cracked and buckled, leaving them kneeling in a small hole which had filled up with cold water within seconds. He caught sight of some dumpsters nearby and noted the buildings on either side of them and he guessed they were in a back ally someplace. It was at least safer here then appearing in the middle of a busy road like the first time he travelled through time. He heard a whimper to his right and he put his hands of Allison's bare shoulders, "Allison, it's alright. It's over".

She was on both her knees and crouched forwards with her eyes tightly closed. She slowly opened them at his words and raised her head, her eyes wide in shock at what she saw before her. She tried to speak but couldn't as she looked around her. He could only imagine what she was thinking. Only a moment ago, she was running for her life from relentless machines and now, she was crouched down in the pouring rain, completely naked and she didn't know what had happened or where she was. She slowly turned her head to her side, to John and he could clearly see the fear and confusion in her eyes, "Allison, it's alright, we're safe here". She panted as if struggling for air and John put his hands on her shoulders, trying to give her some measure of comfort. Her skin was hot to the touch, like she was burning up with a fever and he thought his skin must have felt the same, but he couldn't be sure as the cold rain seemed to be cooling them both down, which was a small relief for both of them. "What happened? Where are we? Where….where are my clothes?" she finally said as she tired to hide her exposed body with her arms. John let go of her shoulders and took hold of her hand, making her turn her head to gaze at him, "I swear to you now Allison that I'll explain everything to you soon. I swear that I'll never lie to you again". She continued to gaze ay him, as if judging whether after all the lies he had reluctantly told her, if he was telling the truth and what she saw in his eyes must have convinced her that he was this time, telling the truth. She nodded her head allowed John to help her to her feet and both of them quickly covered themselves as best they could with their arms and hands. John turned around and saw both Catherine and John Henry standing not to far away. Catherine of course, had already given herself clothes and was dressed in a long black coat and was wearing high heeled shoes, which made her the tallest of them all. She seemed to be waiting for something and was staring at John Henry, who in turn was staring up in to the sky, though how he could see through the heavy rain even with machine eyes, John didn't know. John Henry made both John and Allison uncomfortable because unlike them, he was making no attempt what so ever to cover himself and looked like he didn't even notice he was naked.

"Six months, we've been gone for six months", he eventually said. Catherine also looked up, "Are you sure?" John Henry nodded as he lowered his gaze, "I'm sure". John couldn't quite believe his ears. He had been gone for six whole months. Being back now made all that he had seen and experienced in the future seem like a distant dream, an all too real distant dream. He wondered what had happened to his mother since he had left. Where was she? What had she done? More importantly, was she alright? There had been a possibility that she could have had cancer and that had scared him more then his mother had realised. He needed to know what had happened to her, but for now, they needed clothes more then anything else. Catherine quickly, turned to John, "I programmed the time displacement equipment so we would have been gone two months, not six. The machine must have been damaged in the battle". John didn't respond to that, instead he said only two words, "Clothes, now!" Both he and Allison were quickly being returned to another unpleasant experience of hypothermia, something they were both very keen to avoid. Catherine nodded, "Yes, you need them, all three of you do". She looked to John Henry, who looked back, not knowing what she meant at first. He eventually did and much to Allison's relief as much as John's, he copied John and covered himself with his hands. Catherine beckoned them all to follow her down the ally, towards one of the streets. On the way, they passed three people who were homeless and they didn't notice or pay attention to them as they passed, though Allison did move to John's other side to hide herself from their view. They nearly reached the street when Catherine turned to the last door which would lead in to the back of one of the buildings, which John presumed hope would be store that sold clothes. The door had a security system with a number code, which John could easily bypass but Catherine merely raised her fingers to the pad and typed in a code which she somehow knew, unlocking the door for them. Catherine quickly led them inside and out of the rain. They pushed through some more doors and found them selves on the main floor, which was full of clothes, all hanging neatly on numerous stands. Catherine then appeared behind them and took Allison by the arm, "Come with me, we'll find you some clothes. You two go upstairs and meet us back here in five minutes".

She pointed to the stairs nearby. Allison looked to John fearfully for she now knew from John Henry that both he and Catherine were machines and her life experience with machines told her only one thing and that was to fear them and run away from them as fast as she could. John gave her a small nod and smile to reassure her, "It's alright, she won't hurt you. She's on our side". Catherine gave him a 'Well, that's obvious' look before Allison very reluctantly followed her to the other end of the store while John and John Henry went upstairs. John quickly found himself a pair of jeans and tried to pull them on. It took him a full two minutes before he released they were far to small for him and he was forced to find a pair that fit him, which did prove to be hard because he had lost a lot of weight in the future. He quickly just picked the rest of his cloths at random, not taking any notice of colour or size, which meant he ended up wearing some clothes which were too large for him. He didn't care, for now he was no longer naked and was slowly being warmed up again. He saw John Henry taking his time in picking some clothes. He was still naked which dismayed John to no end, "Stop fooling around and put something on!" John Henry looked up as if surprised by the sudden interruption. He saw John and nodded at him with a sad look and began to pull on the clothes nearest to him. John didn't wait around and quickly descended the stairs. Catherine and Allison weren't there yet and so he waited. It was here that he noticed that his head felt a little strange and he didn't know why. He felt a little light headed and took a couple of deep breaths to try and stop it, which seemed to work a little but his head continued to feel strange. Then, Allison and Catherine returned. Catherine led the way and Allison, still weary of the machine she was forced to accompany, was a good ten paces behind her. Like John, she had taken clothes at random, not caring about her appearance in an effort to keep warm and cover her self. She quickened her pace to get past Catherine and stood nervously next to John, unsure on what she should be doing. A loud clatter from upstairs told them that something had been pushed over and Catherine, with a serious look of annoyance on her face, left John and Allison alone to get John Henry.

Catherine had only disappeared at the top of the stairs when suddenly, he felt it, the dreaded pain he was hoping would never come, but come it did. It was a sharp pain that came so suddenly that he jerked backwards, only just managing to keep himself on his feet. He clasped his hands to the sides of his head and gasped loudly in pain. Allison turned her head, looking both confused and scared, "John? John! What's wrong? Are you okay? John!" The pain just got worse, it was just like the pain he had felt only moments before while he jumped through time the a third time, only the pain now didn't disappear after a second, this pain was here to stay and it just build up and up to be stronger and stronger. His head then felt like it was on fire and he fell forwards now, crying out in pain, desperate for it to stop. Allison ran to him when he fell forwards on to his knees, now screaming out in pain. She tired to take hold of his hands, but now John was shaking and jerking uncontrollable and all Allison could do was watch in horror as a gush of blood came from John's nose and mouth, leaving a small pool of blood on the floor before him. Allison, now panicking, looked up the stairs and shouted, "CATHERINE! HELP!" Catherine reappeared within a second and she didn't run down the stairs, she jumped them, all thirty of them, landing next to them with a soft clang. Allison was too distraught with John's suffering to be in any way shocked by what she saw. Catherine knelt down on John's other side and pulled down backwards on to his back, "Hold him down!" she ordered to Allison who did so very reluctantly. She held down John's arm with her left and pushed down on John's chest with her right to try and keep him as still as possible.

Catherine held down John's other arm and placed her hand on his forehead and pushed down to keep him from shaking his head. John was now gritting his teeth hard and was now screaming out, panting for what air he could get in between the intense surges of pain. John Henry, finally dressed now, all in black clothes, joined them in helping them by holding down John legs. Catherine continued to scan John as he spat out a mouthful of blood, "He's suffering a serious Brain haemorrhage, possibly fatal. I had hoped we would have more time before this happened. I know a private hospital near here. We can take him there. He's got less then twenty minutes". Allison looked up for a moment, horrified with the little amount of time that John had left. Catherine quickly stood up, "Let's go! We need a car. John Henry, carry him now!" John Henry did as she ordered and scooped John up in to his arms and even he struggled to keep John in his grip as he was shaking too much. John screamed out again and Allison took hold of one of his hands tightly. John, with Allison's hand in his grip, seemed to shake less and less, though the pain he was suffering from was still there, clear for all to see. Catherine led them back out in to the alley and won to the street. Allison, momentarily taking her attention away from John, looked around in awe and wonder at the tall buildings around her. She didn't understand why they weren't falling apart? Why they weren't anything more then heaps of rubble in the street?

The more she looked, the more strange everything seemed to her and it was only after another cry from John that Allison turned her attention back to him. Her own curiosity with what she had seen would have to wait. To her, now, nothing was more important then trying to help the one person left alive that she cared about. It was still raining heavily outside, drenching them all within a few moments. Catherine looked up and down the street for a car, but none were parked nearby. John's grip on Allison's hand tightened as he cried out again. His other hand was clasped tightly to his forehead and a fresh flow of blood came from his nose. Allison could feel her own eyes begin to fill with tears and they flowed down her cheeks as she stood helpless by John's side, unable to help him in any way except to hold his hand, which she knew was no help at all. She looked up again and shouted, "CATHERINE, HURRY UP!" Catherine looked around again and she turned away quickly as she heard and saw a car hurrying towards them down the road. Who ever was driving was in a hurry to get home but he would have to walk the rest of the way. Catherine strolled in to the middle of the road and beckoned John Henry and Allison to follow her. They joined her just as the car's breaks were slammed as the driver spotted them thought the heavy rain. The car slid as it had little to no grip on the wet surface of the road. The car turned to the side and Allison thought it might hit them but the car finally stopped harmlessly just ten feet away from them. The door opened and a man stepped out, looking furious, "WHAT THE HELL'S THE MATTER WITH YOU? GET OFF THE ROAD!" Catherine raised her hand and she suddenly had a gun, which she pointed at him and he immediately raised his arms quickly, "Okay, okay, don't shoot, don't shoot. Take the car, you can have it".

Catherine turned head to the side, "Get in". John Henry did do without hesitation, heading to the back of the car and Allison, with John's hand tightly in hers, was pulled along with them. Catherine then advanced on the man, who backed off but couldn't get back far enough and Catherine, with a single swing of her arm, knocked him out cold. She left him on the road and got in the driving seat. The gun she had wasn't really a gun and Catherine had merely made a copy of one to scare the man in to giving up the car and it now simply disappeared back in to her body before she drove as fast as she could go. John Henry sat in the back with Allison beside him. Allison's fear of John Henry and Catherine had for now gone and was now replaced by her fear of John's life, which she could see was leaving him. He lay across them, his legs over John Henry's where the machine was still in a position to hold him still. Allison moved herself so John's head was resting on her lap. She used the sleeve of her stolen jacket to wipe away the blood from John's face but it was hopeless as that blood was swiftly replaced by more. She could see clearly that John was fighting a loosing battle. She only needed to see his eyes when he briefly managed to open them to see how much pain he was in. They were now almost completely bloodshot, which only caused him more pain. He was also becoming delirious. She watched helplessly as his eyes shifted in and out of focus, unable to keep anything he saw in view for long. It was almost if he couldn't see her face, though she was directly in front of him. John Henry watched John's face from where he sat, no emotion showing on his cold like face. He looked almost fascinated by John's suffering as he personally had never seen a Human suffer as John was suffering now.

Catherine, busy driving at high speed in the rain, was focussed on not crashing or being caught or spotted by the police could only glance in the rear view mirror every few moments to have any indication to how John was doing, "How is he?". John Henry looked up from his watching John, "We're losing him". Catherine looked again in to the mirror, a very worried look on her face now. She then looked back in to the mirror, "Allison, talk to him. Give him something to focus on". Allison quickly tried to think of something to say, "John, look at me. Please look at me; I'm right here, look at me!" John's eyes slowly focussed on hers for a moment and then he closed them. His body gave a great shudder and he went almost completely still and his erratic breathing began to slow. Thinking that he was nearing the end of his life, Allison cried out in despair while John Henry looked on, unable to do anything. Allison shook John firmly, "Don't you dare leave me John. Don't you dare! Open your eyes. OPEN THEM NOW!" He did so, opening them only slightly but enough so she could see the green of his eyes, "Don't you dare close your eyes John. You need to stay awake. Stay with me please". John's eyes had fixed on hers and he opened his mouth to speak, but no words came

John, through gritted teeth, tried to say something to her, but the pain was too much and he couldn't manage it as the pain was too intense, "Don't talk John. Don't talk. You can talk all you want when you get better. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. I'll look after you, I promise, just don't leave me, don't leave me alone, not like this, not ever, please". John tired to speak again but again became delirious and began to shake his head from side to side. "Almost there", Catherine called from the front of the car and Allison looked up from John and looked out of the window. She didn't know if her words had any effect on John or if he could even hear her through all the pain he was going through. All she could do was hope that he would live long enough to get the help he needed. Outside, she could see people walking along the sidewalks, without a care in the world and she didn't understand why. Why weren't they hiding underground? Why were they not living in fear of the machines? Every question she asked herself only brought on more questions that she couldn't find the answer to. Everything she was now seeing indicated that there was no war, there were no machines but she knew that couldn't be true. She had seen, hid and ran from machines for almost her entire life, ever since she was a young girl and she had grown up in the ruins of Los Angeles. Yet, she was seeing the city as if it had never been struck by the nuclear fire of Judgement day.

She was too young to remember much of her life from before the bombs fell from the sky and burned the world, but now she was seeing everything as it should have seen it. She looked away from the window and back to John, not wanting to think anymore of what she was seeing outside. It confused her; it scared her she didn't understand. John was her only link to something she did understand and so he would be her priority. He promised to her that he would explain everything and she decided to hold him to that promise. He was the only person she trusted who could help her understand what had happened to her. They arrived at their destination not twenty seconds later. Catherine skidded to a stop and turned to look back over her seat, "Take him inside quickly, both of you. I'll hide the car". John Henry got out and once again scooped up John in to his arms. Allison followed him as he ran across the small parking lot while Catherine sped off to hide the car somewhere. Allison, if she had not been worrying about John, would have been amazed by the hospital. The small lobby area was by far the cleanest place she had even been to since Judgement day had happened to her.

The chairs were neat, soft and clean and the air itself seemed to be cleaner then she had ever remembered. There was a woman sitting behind the large desk opposite the entrance, who Allison noted, looked completely bored and was busy painting her nails. She looked up, startled as John Henry and Allison entered and when her eyes spotted John, she stood quickly. John Henry shouted ahead at her, "We need some help here, we need a doctor". She ran out from past her desk and disappeared through a nearby door. John groaned and twitched as the pain in his head continued to plague him. Allison gripped his hand tightly and again wiped blood from his nose with her sleeve. The woman returned moments later with two men, both of whom Allison knew were doctors due to the long white coats they were wearing. She watched as the doctors examined John and almost immediately announced that unless they operated to lessen the pressure on his brain, he would be dead within ten minutes. "I trust he had health insurance?" one of the doctors suddenly asked, a question which caught both of them off guard.

Allison of course had never heard of the term before, while John Henry seemed to be too taken aback to speak, "Of course he does". The doctors were not convinced by his words until Catherine finally arrived, "Is there a problem? Why isn't he being treated?" The doctors both looked annoyed by Catherine's sudden appearance and interference but both remained defiant, "I'm sorry ma'am, but without health insurance, we can't…." Catherine looked suddenly furious and raised her hand as if she would slap the doctor who spoke, which intimidated him enough to shut him up. Catherine didn't need to speak to express her anger, it was all over her face, clear to see and even John Henry joined Allison in backing away from her. Catherine then seemed to control herself and she lowered her hand and then spoke in a very calm voice, "Five hundred thousand dollars. I will give you half a million dollars to treat him now and ensure he survives". They stared at her with stunned expressions by the huge amount of money they were being offered. They accepted her offer eagerly and took John away to be treated without another word. Once they had left, Catherine's anger returned as quickly as it had left, shaking her head without saying a word as she began to pace the room. She shot angry glances at Allison, who was unsure what to do with herself, "What will happen now? Will John be alright?" Catherine turned on her then and screamed "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW! JOHN SHOULD HAVE LEFT YOU BEHIND TO DIE YOU STUPID LITTLE GIRL. DO SOMETHING USEFUL AND GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!".

Allison was not expecting be shouted at all and in such a way and she was unable to take much more. She burst in to tears, though she tired not to and she ran out of the hospital; back out in to the rain. She suddenly felt so isolated and alone than she had ever felt in her life. She ran right across the small parking lot, ignoring everything around her. She ran on to road and was startled by two bright lights coming towards her. She stopped, saw it was a car and closed her eyes, waiting to be hit but the driver managed to swerve out of the way, blasting the car horn as loud as he could as he past her. Breathless and scared, she backed back on to the sidewalk and back in to the parking lot. She wanted to get out of the rain, but didn't want to go back to the hospital and so looked around for somewhere dry. Other then the hospital, there was nothing except for a large tree nearby on a small grass bank.

She ran to it and the grass at its base was indeed dry as the large leaves deflected the rain away. Allison sat with her back to the tree, her legs brought up so she could learn her head against her knees. Alone and scared, she cried for a long time. A few people passed by her but none stopped to see if she was alright, which Allison was glad for as she just wanted to be left alone and her instincts told her to fear anyone she didn't know. This instinct had been hardened by so many years of hiding and running from machines, slavers and rape gangs. She sat alone for what seemed like a long time. The rain had now stopped but it was still bitterly cold. She rubbed her arms for warmth instead of heading back inside. The hospital doors opened and John Henry came out to look for her. She made no attempt to hide from him and he found her easily enough. He made his way over and sat down on the grass nearby. He didn't seem to notice the wet grass or the small puddle of water he was now sitting in.

Allison just watched him as he looked up in to the now clearing sky, where the stars were able to shine down without any thick clouds to block their light, "I'm sorry". He finally said, "For my mother. She should not have shouted at you like she did. A lot of things have happened which she did not expect and it had frustrated her immensely. That is why she shouted at you. She is better then I am in expressing her emotions but sometimes, she has trouble controlling them". He turned his head to Allison now, and gave a long sigh, "And, I am also sorry Allison. I'm sorry for what I put you through. I should not have told you about Cameron, it was not my place. It should have been John who told you, not me and for that, I am sorry". He turned to look at her and she was surprised to see a very saddened look on his face, "Will you forgive me?" Allison blinked, not expecting what he had just said and she didn't expect that he would ask for forgiveness. He was a machine, why would he ask for forgiveness? She hated him for what he was, but she was also puzzled by him. A machine wasn't something that would ask you for forgiveness. When she didn't answer him, John Henry turned away, visibly hurt by her lack of response. "I do not blame you for not forgiving me. I do now understand the hurt I caused you. I did not intend to hurt you. I have difficulty understanding Human emotions and my mother isn't exactly the best role model for learning about emotions".

He tried and failed to smile to himself, something which again surprised Allison, but she was still too hurt to respond to him. John Henry again looked up to the stars and stared at them with wonder before lowering his head. "I have spoken to my mother at great length and we have both agreed that you need to know what is going on. I understand that John would have been a better choice to explain things to you, but since he is unavailable at the moment, I am willing to tell you as much as I can, if you are willing to listen". He turned again to look at her and he waited patiently for her to respond. Allison wanted to simply get up and run away as fast as she could, but she wanted more, she wanted answers to the many questions within her head and so she gave a small nod. John Henry gave a smile and turned his head to look at the stars again, "What I will tell you may be hard to understand. You, me, John and my mother have travelled back through time. We travelled from the year 2027 to 2009, two years before Judgement day. That is why all the buildings around you are not in ruin, which is why there are people walking the streets. That is why there is a working hospital here in front of us. Judgement day has not yet happened". He looked around to her and saw the look of surprise and confusion on her face. Allison thought he was mad, completely and utterly mad. Time travel was impossible, something she had heard stories about but they were just stories. But then she looked around her again and saw that the buildings were intact and not in ruin, she saw a couple walk past, arm in arm and without a care in the world and she saw that the lights were shining brightly through the hospital windows.

Time travel may be impossible she thought, but it explained everything she was seeing. John Henry turned away again and sighed, "The world as you know it Allison, was never meant to happen. In the world you come from, Skynet won the war against Humanity and you were on your way to extinction. That war should never have been won by Skynet. The Human resistance against the machines should not have failed". Allison tilted her head to the side slightly, something she always had done when she didn't understand something though she didn't know why she did it, "But I know what happened, we all heard the story. The resistance lost. The machines destroyed them at Century work camp". John Henry shook his head, "In your world Allison that is what indeed happened, because the resistance did not have the one man who made all the difference, the resistance didn't have John". Allison warmed a little at the mention of his name, though she was still bitterly cold, "John? Why John?" Sighing again, John Henry looked up and then closed his eyes, "John Connor is the leader of the Human resistance against Skynet and the machines. It was John Connor who led the successful breakout at Century work camp. It was John Connor who brought the Human race back from the brink of extinction. It was John Connor who the entire Human race looked up to for leadership in the long war against the machines. John Connor is more important then you know Allison, he is the most important human alive". He turned again to look at her, "The reason the world you know came to exist was because of me. I took Cameron's chip and travelled to the future to see what my brother had done to the world with my own eyes.

But I did not expect John would follow me to come after Cameron. He travelled to the future as well to get her back. In doing so, he was not at century work camp and he did not lead the human resistance, which of course, failed without him". Allison flinched at the mention of Cameron's name, hating her more and more, despite never meeting her and she never wanted to meet her, but John Henry's explanation, though sounding like something that would only be found in a book, seemed to fit everything that she could see with her own two eyes. She shook her head, trying not to think too hard about it as it all seemed so confusing and so asked the one question that she wanted answered the most right now. "What's happening to John?" John Henry lowered his head slightly before explaining the situation, "He is dying and it is my fault. Time travel is not a natural occurrence and is fatal to Humans if done more then once. You gave travelled through time only once and you will be fine. John however, has now travelled three times through time and I'm afraid, he might not yet survive it". He lowered his head still further till he was facing the ground. The sound of thunder stuck them both from afar, causing them to both look up. The thunder wasn't far away, telling them it was about to rain again. "What will happen to me now? To John?" John Henry stood up then and turned to her, "I do not know what will happen to John. I do hope he survives this, but I do not know if he will. Only time will tell us that now. As for you Allison, you will be safe. John has made sure of that by bringing you here. I may be a machine, like my mother, but I assure you, neither of us will harm you. And for now, I think we really should head back inside. It's about to rain again and you may….what is it that you Humans say? Catch a cold?".

He held his right hand out to her. She hesitated, remembering being in this exact position not too long ago, but it was John, not John Henry who offered his hand. She also remembered that in taking John's hand, he had saved her life and so after considering whether or not to believe anything John Henry had just told her and fighting her own fear of him being a machine, she took his hand and was pulled to her feet. "You're different, from other machines and not just because you have skin like us. You sound different". John Henry smiled at that, "I'm glad you noticed. I am indeed different. The machines you know were all built and controlled by Skynet to some degree, they were bound by Skynet's rules and Skynet's fear and hatred of Humanity. This body may have been built by Skynet, but my mind was not. I am a self aware machine, I think for myself like you can, I can learn just as you can, I can feel emotions like you can, though I'm still learning in that area, as is my mother. She is also a different machine, very different, far different from myself. Shall we go inside now?"

They headed back to the hospital and though Allison was tempted to make a break for it, to escape, she didn't run and she stayed. She couldn't go, not now, not while John needed her to stay and she didn't want to go. Not only that, she didn't know where she was and had no where to go even if she did try and run. John was the only person left who she cared about after all. Inside, back in the lobby, they found Catherine standing with her eyes fixed on the double doors which John had been taken through. She turned as they approached, gave Allison a single glance before turning to stare at the door again. John Henry sat down in one of the chairs in the lobby and indicated to Allison to sit down also. She did and she found the soft chairs to be strangely uncomfortable, since she was not at all being used to sitting on anything soft. Catherine then turned to her and stared at her a long time. Allison stared back in to her cold eyes and she noticed that there seemed to be nothing in them. She had stared in to John's eyes numerous times, almost entranced by them and she knew he was Human from them. He was someone she cared about and maybe something more then just caring. But when she looked in to Catherine's eyes, there was just nothing there, her eyes were empty, very cold and very empty. It was clear to Allison that she was a machine. They kept staring at each other and even John Henry noticed the tension between the two. It was as if they were waiting to see who would break eye contact first and it was Allison who won that contest, for Catherine turned away to John Henry, "I will go and get our bearings. We need to know where we stand. You stay here and watch over John, protect him at all costs. All we can do now is hope he survives this. I will take Allison with me". Catherine turned back and Allison was sure she saw a smug look on her face for a brief moment, "No, I'm not leaving John, I'm not going anywhere". Catherine's smug look remained fixed, "You are no use to John if you stay here. He may never wake up; we can only hope he will.

But for now, if you don't come with me, you could very well do more harm to yourself then good. Now follow me, please". She turned and walked towards the doors. Allison turned to John Henry, who raised his arm and indicated to her to follow Catherine, "There is nothing to worry about. She won't hurt you, John has seen to that". Wishing she had run away instead of coming back inside, Allison reluctantly stood up and followed Catherine out of the hospital. Catherine led her across the parking lot before stopping by the road once again. "I should kill you", she suddenly said while turning to her, "You're a serious liability, a threat, not only to him, but to us all. I warned John not to bring anyone back with us, I warned him many times, but here you are. I really should kill you". Catherine made a sudden movement with her arm and Allison expected there and then to be killed, but Catherine merely reached in to her pocket and pulled out the car key they would need. Allison felt her heart skip a beat in relief, "Then why don't you kill me?" She felt rather brave for saying that since Catherine, already frustrated and angry with her and was also a machine, was someone Allison didn't want to cross. "I won't kill you because if John survives and he finds out what I did, he will immediately terminate our alliance and will seek to destroy me. He will not think of the consequences of his actions. He is emotionally attached to you and that will always blind him from the fact that you are a threat. I can neither allow our alliance to fail or allow him to attempt to terminate me, for he is John Connor and he could very well succeed in terminating me. Therefore, your survival ensures the survival of our alliance and so, I won't kill you, though I really should". She then crossed the road, leaving Allison alone for a moment to take in what she had said before following her. Catherine took her to another ally where she had hidden the car they had stolen. They then drove through LA for up to half an hour, this time not rushing to their destination, since it was not urgent.

Allison had no idea where she was being taken, though she noted that Catherine seemed to know the city well, for she knew exactly where she was going. "I don't really know John, do I?" Catherine was herself surprised by the question, "What do you mean? Of course you know John". Allison looked out of the window at a large group of youths, some of whom were throwing up on to the sidewalk. Allison was disgusted and confused by what she saw, "John lied to me. He never told me who he really was". Catherine gave a single shake of her head, "He never told you who he was destined to become because he had to. Would you have believed him if he had told you? I think that you are one of the few people who really knows John Connor, who he really is. People know him as the man who saved them from Skynet and the machines they know him as a hero and a war leader. But you don't know him as that, you know him simply as John Connor". Catherine then pulled in to another ally way and got out of the car, "We must walk the rest of the way. The car is stolen and we don't want to be discovered". They abandoned the car and walked back on to the street. It was cold and the heavy rain began to fall again, drenching Allison once again from head to toe. She tired to ignore it and just follow Catherine who was leading her to somewhere she didn't know, to an uncertain fate. She thought about what Catherine had said in the car and really wondered if she did really know John at all.

Catherine took her to a hotel, where Allison couldn't help but run her hands across the soft clean fabrics in the room. It was the cleanest room she had ever been in and was completely the opposite of what she was used to. Normally, she would be underground in a cold and damp room, using what ever she could find to keep herself warm while she slept and maybe burning a small fire nearby for both warmth and light. This hotel room seemed to be like a palace to her. The bed had a silk blanket lying neatly on top and Allison loved to run her hand across the silk, having not felt anything so smooth to the touch in her life. It was also here that Allison took her first shower. Catherine told her she needed one since she had received disapproving looks from people in the hotel lobby, mainly due to her appearance and smell. The hot water falling on to her skin was also something she had never experienced before or not since she was a baby in the care of her parents. Back in the future, she would have used what little spare clean water she had to wash herself, but since clean water was hardly ever available, she was rarely able to do that. Now, she used soap to wash away the harsh build up of sweat, dried blood and dirt from her skin. She also spent a great deal of time washing her hair. Unlike her skin, she had never washed her hair since baths and showers weren't ever available to her. She had tried over the years to keep her hair clean because she was fond of it, since it was different from the other girls she used to live with, most of whom had light blonde hair. Her brown hair was fifthly was matted together in some places and no matter how hard she tried or how much soap she used, the tangles wouldn't come free and so Catherine was later forced to cut them away.

Finally washed and dried Allison dressed in the white silk pyjamas Catherine had provided and left by the bathroom door for her, which brought an instant warm feeling when she put them on. Her stolen clothes from the store had been taken to be washed downstairs by the hotel maids. Leaving the bathroom, Allison found Catherine standing by the window, staring down intently in to the street below and she turned as Allison entered the room, "Do you feel any better?" Allison could tell by Catherine's cold tone that she didn't care what so ever if she was any better, but she ignored it and nodded in response. Catherine nodded in return, "Good. Now, I need to leave you here while I get our bearings. There are people I need to locate and information I need to gather. You will be safe here for tonight. I will return for you in the morning". Allison, a little shocked at now being left alone, simply nodded at that. She was too mentally exhausted and with everything that had happened to argue with her. Catherine walked to the door but stopped before leaving, "Don't open this door to anyone unless you hear four knocks". Catherine raised her hand and knocked on the door four times to show what she meant, "And get some sleep. You need it". Allison looked to the bed and saw how inviting and comfortable it looked and suddenly felt more tired then ever. Catherine gave a cold smile as she opened the door, turned off the light and closed the door behind her. Allison, now in complete darkness, climbed in to the bed and the combination of metal and physical exhaustion and the warmth of the bed, helped her to sleep within seconds. Her thoughts were of John, the only person she had left who she cared about and she thought of what she would do if she lost him, if he didn't survive. After losing everyone else, life without John wasn't worth living to her. She needed John, she needed him, now more then ever in this strange new world that she was now in.


End file.
